Kris Kristofferson went into music after studying at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. He moved to Nashville and made ends meet as a helicopter pilot. After trying unsuccessfully to get Johnny Cash to hear some of his songs, he finally got Cash’s attention by landing a helicopter on his lawn.
musicians
After the musician Prince changed…
After the musician Prince changed his name to The Love Symbol “Ƭ̵̬̊” in 1993, he sent out custom 3.5 inch floppy disks to news/media outlets with strict instructions that contained a custom font that would replace the capital letter “P” with that symbol on the PC and Macintosh.
When Bill Withers was in his 30s earning…
When Bill Withers was in his 30s earning $3 an hour, he went to a Lou Rawls concert. He overheard that Rawls (who didn’t arrive) was to be paid $2000 for the show. Withers immediately bought a cheap guitar and started writing songs.
Musicians formed the Music Defense…
Musicians formed the Music Defense League in 1930 to fight against movies with sound. They worried that without people playing music live at the movies, like in the silent era, they would lose jobs so they ran an expensive campaign arguing about how robots were taking over the world.
On 3 December 1976, seven gunmen…
On 3 December 1976, seven gunmen attempted to assassinate Bob Marley. During the trial, one of the gunmen claimed that the CIA hired them to do it, as Marley backed the left wing party PNP rather than the right wing LP. Two days later the injured Marley gave a 90 minute concert.
The music genre “shoegaze” got its…
The music genre “shoegaze” got its name from British critics mocking the musicians always looking down at their shoes while playing instead of the audience. In reality, the musicians had to focus on the numerous music effect pedals in their playlist.
Dusty Hill from ZZ Top wanted to feel…
Dusty Hill from ZZ Top wanted to feel “normal” after their “Worldwide Texas Tour”. So he cut his hair, got a job at an airport, went by the name of “Joe” and would go out on Friday nights with coworkers so he could feel “grounded”.
As a child, Jimi Hendrix carried an actual…
As a child, Jimi Hendrix carried an actual broom with him everywhere around school for over a year, as a pretend guitar. The school’s social worker tried to get funding for a real guitar, insisting that leaving him without one might result in psychological damage.
The Spanish singer-songwriter…
The Spanish singer-songwriter Julio Iglesias was a professional footballer signed with Real Madrid. When he was recovering from an accident that ended his career, a nurse gave him a guitar so that he could recover the dexterity of his hands. In learning to play, he discovered his musical talent.
In 2002, the band Creed put on such…
In 2002, the band Creed put on such a bad show at the Allstate Arena in Illinois that a $2,000,000 class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of all of the fans in attendance.