# Jewish Performers in Rock and Roll/R&B **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424 "2014-07-05T20:07:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/41 "2014-07-07T01:17:39Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > I generally don’t keep track of such things, but I do know that for Kiss, it should be “_those guys_ from Kiss” since both Gene Simmons (Chaim Witz) and Paul Stanley (Stanley Bert Eisen) are ethnically Jewish. The only reason I know/remember this is that I’ve heard rumors that the perennial split between the members has been divided along those lines. Wait, what? Coincidentally or consequently? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/42 "2014-07-07T01:18:54Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Max Wein-something (gotta be, right?) Springsteen drummer, talk-show bandleader > Whoever did Spirit in the Sky, also European-Jewish name, I think > > I love that song. Told my wife (but haven’t put it in writing…yet) that at my funeral service, even with a Rabbi of any sorts, at the very beginning, all stand, all dead quiet, then that song. _Especially_ the more Orthodoxyish the service. Max Weinberg Norman Greenbaum Both confirmed Jews, at least by upbringing, I believe. I don’t know what they profess(ed) as adults. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/43 "2014-07-07T02:39:59Z")
My Jew playlist on Spotify goes by Jewish geography rules and includes songs written and/or performed by Jews. RHCP when Hillel Slovak was part of the lineup and covering a Dylan song counts either way. It also includes Leonard Cohen, Porno for Pyros, Jefferson Airplane, Amy Winehouse, J. Geils Band, The Ramones, Warren Zevon, Peaches, and Hole, among others. (Some but not all of those have been mentioned.) EDIT: I see we have other Peglegs here… ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/44 "2014-07-07T07:10:56Z")
How did we manage to get this far without a mention of Adam Levine? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/45 "2014-07-07T11:14:13Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Wait, what? Coincidentally or consequently? Coincidentally I think. As I heard it, Simmons and Stanley were friends beforehand (to which their both being Jewish may have some relevance), cooked up the concept of _Kiss_ - the makeup and everything - between them, and then recruited other musicians to actually make up the band. There was ongoing resentment because Simmons and Stanley remained close, and had a tendency to treat the others like employees, despite their making a considerable musical contribution (well, if you can call _Kiss_ music :p.) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/46 "2014-07-07T12:13:28Z")
Neil Diamond, “The Jewish Elvis” Paul Schaffer, the original keyboardist for the Blues Brothers, among his other accomplishments (Letterman, SNL) Max Weinberg, drummer for Springsteen and bandleader for Conan O’Brien’s first late show Not interested in any cavils about how they’re “not really Rock.” ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/47 "2014-07-07T12:28:24Z")
Amy Winehouse! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/48 "2014-07-07T22:07:07Z")
The band 10cc was led by British Invasion veteran Graham Gouldman (he wrote the Yardbirds’ “Heart Full of Soul” and the Hollies’ “Bus Stop”) and future video pioneers Lol Creme and Kevin Godley. All three of them were Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/49 "2014-07-07T22:33:47Z")
Carly Simon. On her father’s side, at least. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/50 "2014-07-08T00:56:30Z")
Marty Balin (of Jefferson Airplane) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/51 "2014-07-08T03:05:28Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits Bit of a stretch given that only his father had a Jewish background, and MK has described his father as agnostic. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/52 "2014-07-08T14:57:25Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Carly Simon. On her father’s side, at least. True- her Dad was the “Simon” in Simon & Shuster publishing. But she and sister Lucy were raised Catholic (nominally, at least- no idea if she’s religious today). ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/53 "2014-07-09T00:28:37Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I think that weird actress from Fight Club and The King’s Speech, with the fancy sounding name I can’t remember now, is one gajillionth Jewish, and that was almost worth a phone call to my friend. . Helena Bonham Carter? Lead singer of Counting Crows, Adam Duritz, is Jewish. Cite: The song [1492](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/countingcrows/1492.html), where he sings, “I’m Russian Jew American” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/54 "2014-07-09T02:22:25Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Helena Bonham Carter?.. > **[Jew or Not Jew: Helena Bonham Carter](http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=781)** > > JewOrNotJew.com: Is Helena Bonham Carter Jewish? ETA: Thanks ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/55 "2014-07-09T15:44:39Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Bit of a stretch given that only [Mark Knopfler’s] father had a Jewish background, and MK has described his father as agnostic. I’m an Irish Catholic, and I don’t feel qualified to determine who’s “truly” a Jew. A rabbi might decide “No, Knopfler is not Jewish because his mother was not a Jew.” Fine, the rabbi has his standards and he’s entitled to them. But… suppose someone was being hauled off to Dachau, and he told the SS men, "“Wait- my mother isn’t Jewish! Okay, my Dad was Jewish, but he never went to the synagogue!” Think the SS would have said, “Ooooooh, that’s different, you can go free”? Or would they have said, “You sound like a Jew to me”? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424/56 "2014-07-09T21:14:48Z")
So these things are decided by the “Nazi Test”? Who knew? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-performers-in-rock-and-roll-r-b/692424.md?page=2)