# Musicians who completely switched genres **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 10, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257 "2009-02-10T19:03:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/41 "2009-02-11T02:11:36Z")
I’m a big Todd Rundgren fan, and we’ve had to be very nimble. Started in a blues band, _Woody’s Truck Stop_, then formed the American “English Invasion” pop band pop band _The Nazz_, then Laura Nyro-ish balladeer, psychedelic rock, prog rock, pretty much [invented glam rock](http://pro.corbis.com/images/BE079435.jpg?size=67&uid=%7B80DD3A23-0329-430D-9AC7-046135F40111%7D) and has had excursions into rap and re-recorded an album of his hits in bossa nova style and toured the album [with a tiki bar](http://trconnection.com/pictures/gallery/usf.jpg). His most recent album is arena rock and called “Arena”. Apparently, he gets bored easily. ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/42 "2009-02-11T02:48:50Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > The Osmonds have reinvented themselves as a country and western act in Bronson, Missouri. Which made me think of [this little video clip.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPpIkskxueU) ---
**Author:** ![Eman\_Resu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@Eman\_Resu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eman_Resu)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/43 "2009-02-11T02:57:08Z")
How about Miles Davis? Sure, he was always “jazz,” but he was consistently on the ground floor of each major development in jazz from the mid-1940s on. I would say the difference between, say, _Birth of the Cool_ and _Bitches Brew_ is by order of magnitude greater than genre changes of most rock or pop bands that simply switched to a different flavor of rock or pop. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/44 "2009-02-11T03:13:00Z")
Aretha Franklin went from singing gospel at her church to Queen of Soul, to a short attempt at disco to being, well, Aretha Franklin. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/45 "2009-02-11T03:26:35Z")
Cat Stevens? ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/46 "2009-02-11T03:46:04Z")
\*\*Billy Joel \*\*has to be the ultimate example of this. From a piano-driven pop rocker to a classical music composer is about as drastic a change as you can get. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/47 "2009-02-11T03:54:39Z")
> [@Windwalker](#): > > \*\*Billy Joel \*\*has to be the ultimate example of this. From a piano-driven pop rocker to a classical music composer is about as drastic a change as you can get. Well, you can also add Paul McCartney and Joe Jackson to the list, too, for the pop-to-classical switch. edit: Oh, and David Byrne and Stewart Copeland (drummer for the Police) also have written classical pieces. edit2: And, of course, Frank Zappa. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/48 "2009-02-11T03:55:51Z")
\*\*AC/DC \*\*started off as a glam rock outfit (hence the name). **Ultravox!** went from fairly edgy rock to synth-pop (with a substantial change in personnel at the time of course). And I consider **King Crimson** ’s sound of the \*Red/Lark’s Tongues in Aspic \*era to be a quite different genre from the later _Discipline/Three of a Perfect Pair_ era, although I’d find it hard to put the difference in words. > [@Manduck](#): > > I think Elvis Costello is jazz now. I think you think wrongly. Jazz? Jeez. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/49 "2009-02-11T04:00:36Z")
Ah, Elvis Costello is another one who ventured into the realm of classical music with his orchestral _Il Sogno_. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/50 "2009-02-11T04:20:51Z")
It wasn’t a total switch, or even for an album…but **Metallica** released a cover of “Tuesday’s Gone” and another song “Mama Says” that are very country. So for two songs Metallica went from metal to country (and succeeded IMO). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/51 "2009-02-11T05:21:38Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I came in here to say that Dennis DeYoung from Styx was classically trained, but Wikipedia says I’m wrong, thus ending a 20+ year bit of “knowledge” for me. He was a music teacher, does that count? He had a helluva voice. Dennis has always been a huge fan of Broadway show tunes. He released an album of show tunes, and actually played Pontius Pilate in a touring company of “Jesus Christ Superstar” in the Nineties. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/52 "2009-02-11T05:33:58Z")
Michael Bolton - yes, that Michael Bolton - used to sing in a heavy metal band. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/53 "2009-02-11T05:48:19Z")
Nik Turner went from spacerock to jazz. Robert Calvert issued several concept albums in various genres (folk-rock, proto-punk, and deliberately-cheesy pop) Not really switching genres, but Jesse Sykes (country noir) has collaborated with Boris and Earth. The Supersuckers and Hank III alternate between country and punk. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/54 "2009-02-11T06:27:24Z")
Many opera singers have done pop albums . . . and I sincerely wish they would stop. And the Vienna Boys’ Choir have done pop, with equal success. And of course there’s Leonard Bernstein, with one foot in classical and the other on Broadway. And Yo-Yo Ma has done lots of non-classical. And oh yeah, Ethel Merman did a disco album. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/55 "2009-02-11T08:38:57Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Many opera singers have done pop albums . . . and I sincerely wish they would stop. Who in particular are you referencing? I don’t mind Andrea Bocelli’s and Sarah Brightman’s pop efforts, but those are the only two that come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/56 "2009-02-11T08:49:17Z")
**Queen** started out as a seventies (hard) rock band and changes in the eighties to, well…something different. Also in the song Bohemian Rhapsody alone they change genres about three times. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/57 "2009-02-11T09:02:23Z")
Almost any non-American artist / group with a succesful career spanning several decades would qualify here, it seems (save for AC/DC). Compare Queen of '74 to Queen of '84, for instance. From piano-driven, falsetto-sung, multi-layered art rock to straight-ahead guitar rock with standard rock vocalization. Take Rush songs from the same years - nothing similar between 'em. Genre-switching abounds where careers last long enough. ---
**Author:** ![Buford\_was\_no\_angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Buford\_was\_no\_angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buford_was_no_angel)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/58 "2009-02-11T12:37:25Z")
**Michael Nesmith** went from teen idol with the Monkees to become one of the fathers of what is often called “Americana” music with his First National Band. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/59 "2009-02-11T13:29:38Z")
**Mike Patton** is a living, breathing genre switch in progress. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257/60 "2009-02-11T14:24:48Z")
> [@Windwalker](#): > > Who in particular are you referencing? I don’t mind Andrea Bocelli’s and Sarah Brightman’s pop efforts, but those are the only two that come to mind. I may get myself accused of snobbery, but neither Andrea Bocelli nor Sarah Brightman are opera singers, any more that Celine Dion is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-who-completely-switched-genres/485257.md?page=4)