# Interesting and notable rock-&-roll accomplishments by teenagers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166 "2005-10-27T16:06:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/21 "2005-10-27T20:17:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Anna Something of Bow Wow Wow was 15 when she recorded “I Want Candy.” Annabella Lwin. Although her real name is Myant Myant Aye (she’s originally Burmese). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/22 "2005-10-27T20:21:40Z")
> [@](#): > > I believe both Rich and Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes were in their teens when Shake Your Money Maker was released, but I can’t find any definite ages. Rich was 16 and Chris was 18 when they formed the Black Crowes in 1985. But _Shake Your Money Maker_, their first album, didn’t come out until 1990 when they were both past 20. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/23 "2005-10-27T20:27:03Z")
Mike Oldfield was still in his teens when he recorded most of _Tubular Bells_, and was still a few months short of 20 when it was released. It was an amazingly inventive contribution to rock music. No lyrics! A continuous instrumental work without track breaks! The use of over-dubbing to allow one intrumentalist to become a ‘one man orchestra’! The mix of rock, folk and other textures into what would later, much later, became the genre known as ‘New Age’. A number 1 album in countless territories. Has sold over 16 million copies around the world. Spawned any number of imitators and also helped to give the world the Virgin business empire (good thing or bad, discuss). Quite an achievement. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/24 "2005-10-27T20:27:47Z")
Menudo. Though I wonder how much an accomplishment it is when the “band” is formed by the producers and being a teenager almost means you’re too old to still be in it. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/25 "2005-10-27T20:30:10Z")
I may be wrong but wasn’t Todd Rundgren still a teenager when he was in the Nazz? ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/26 "2005-10-27T20:44:31Z")
U2 formed when Larry Mullen, then aged 14, posted a notice at his high school looking for people to be in a band. Bono (well, just plain old Paul Hewson at that point) and Adam Clayton, the two oldest members of the band, would have been 16 and The Edge (again, just Dave Evans then) would have been 15 at the time the band formed. Bono wrote the lyrics for the song “Out of Control” on his 18th birthday, and while Bono and Adam Clayton were 20 by the time their debut album _Boy_ was released, The Edge and Larry Mullen were still teenagers. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/27 "2005-10-27T21:02:45Z")
I saw a kid play with Gregg Allman - his name was Derek Trucks, IIRC. He was maybe 14 or so, and an incredible guitar player. ---
**Author:** ![Foolonthehill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Foolonthehill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foolonthehill)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/28 "2005-10-27T22:24:30Z")
The Runaways, (Joan Jett, Lita Ford, et al), were all teenagers when they broke. Eddie Cochrane, (‘Summertime Blues’), and Ritchie Valens, (‘La Bamba’), were teens. The drummer on the first Santana album, (Santana), Michael Shreive, was 16. About Winwood; I’d always heard that ‘Gimme some lovin’ was recorded when he was 17, and that ‘I’m a Man’ was recorded when he was 18. (Regardless, his voice kicks butt). ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/29 "2005-10-27T23:06:34Z")
The Small Faces were still teenagers when they had their first hit, ‘Wotcha gonna do about it’ in 1965. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/30 "2005-10-27T23:58:57Z")
> [@Snakescatlady](#): > > I saw a kid play with Gregg Allman - his name was Derek Trucks, IIRC. He was maybe 14 or so, and an incredible guitar player. well, just, wow. ---
**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/31 "2005-10-28T00:07:30Z")
The Australian band Silverchair broke big when the members were all between 14 and 16 (depending on the source). They’re a bona fide rock band, writing their songs, playing their instruments, making it on their own, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/32 "2005-10-28T00:50:29Z")
Björk was eleven when her self-titled album was released. It wasn’t exactly hard rockin’ but it had a Beatles cover (_Nowhere man_) on it, so I guess it counts. She was sixteen when she fronted Tappi Tíkarrass (“Cork the Bitch’s Ass.”) A little edgier than her earlier effort. Remarkably, her voice has hardly changed at all from the way it was in that first recording. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/33 "2005-10-28T02:08:24Z")
I was told that Chris DeGarmo of Queensryche was 17 when the band recorded their self-titled debut EP. ---
**Author:** ![waits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df788c/32.png) [@waits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waits)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/34 "2005-10-28T02:14:47Z")
Nils Lofgren was 17 when he did the piano part on Neil Young’s “Southern Man.” The story (from _Shakey_ by Jimmy McDonough) is that Neil decided to test Nils by telling him he was going to play piano on a song the next day. Nils said, “I’ve never played piano in my life.” Neil said, “Yeah, I know–but I want you to play piano.” So Nils kept trying to come up with something and was just pounding on the keyboard when Neil said, “_That’s_ the solo.” ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/35 "2005-10-28T02:16:15Z")
Correction: DeGarmo _formed_ Queensryche in 1981, when he was 17; their debut EP was released in 1981, when he was 19. [sub]Note to self: check facts first, post second[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/36 "2005-10-28T02:26:56Z")
Two excellent young guitarists: **Jonny Lang** was only 15 years old when his first solo album _Lie to Me_ (#44 on the Billboard chart, #1 on the blues chart) was released. He was the leader of the “Bad Medicine Band” when he was 12, and by the time he was 15 he had already released 3 albums! **Kenny Wayne Shepherd** released **Ledbetter Heights** (#108 on the Billboard chart, #1 on the Blues chart) when he was 18. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/37 "2005-10-28T06:29:07Z")
You can start at the very beginning of it, with Elvis, Richie Valens, Etta James, on and on. Unless you wanna say Elvis ain’t Rock ‘n’ Roll, in which case we have nothing further to discuss. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/38 "2005-10-28T07:16:19Z")
More recently, how old were the guys in Modest Mouse when they started out? Even more recently, Smoosh started out as pre-teens. (It’s not great music, but it’s fun. And how many people can boast that they’ve opened for Pearl Jam before hitting puberty?) ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/39 "2005-10-28T10:43:57Z")
Helen Shapiro had a UK number 1 with “Walking Back To Happiness” in 1961 when she was just 14. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166/40 "2005-10-28T11:13:21Z")
**The Beach Boys** spanned the ages of 14 - 18 when they got started. It’s safe to say they made a mark. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-and-notable-rock-roll-accomplishments-by-teenagers/328166.md?page=3)