# Rock star with the highest IQ **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986 "2015-08-04T17:22:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/1 "2015-08-04T17:22:35Z")
This one’s a spinoff of the “money grabbers” thread. Who do you think is the rock musician with the highest IQ? There are a few obvious ones - Neil Peart, Brian May, and other people have nominated Todd Rundgren and Bill Bruford. There’s also an alt-rock singer named Pardis Sabeti who is now better known for being a major figure in Ebola research in recent months than she is for her music. > **[Pardis Sabeti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardis_Sabeti)** > > Pardis Christine Sabeti (Persian: پردیس ثابتی; born December 25, 1975) is an Iranian American computational biologist, medical geneticist, and evolutionary geneticist. She developed a bioinformatic statistical method which identifies sections of the genome that have been subject to natural selection and an algorithm which explains the effects of genetics on the evolution of disease. > In 2014, Sabeti was part of a team led by Christian Happi, a Cameroonian geneticist, which used advanced genomic... ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/2 "2015-08-04T17:29:57Z")
Barely missed the cutoff! Here’s her band’s website. [http://www.thousanddays.com/](http://www.thousanddays.com/) ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/3 "2015-08-04T17:30:47Z")
I remember seeing Mark Mcgrath (Sugar Ray) on Rock n’ Roll Jeopardy, a show that was on VH1 for a short while, and he knew everything and completely dominated. Not a measure of intelligence surely but he was really impressive. You had to see it I guess. And I’m not sure it would be that obvious with musicians. I’ve played with some guitarists I consider great, and the best were very eclectic, space-casey, but I’m not sure about IQ. The best was AGLD, academically-gifted, learning disabled. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/4 "2015-08-04T17:35:08Z")
I’ve never been a Metallica fan, and I know Lars Ulrich is a total dickhead, but he’s also one of the smartest musicians I’ve ever seen interviewed. So, what’s this about IQ and drummers? 😕 Peter Buck of R.E.M. is IMNSHO that band’s brainiest one, which is saying a lot. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/5 "2015-08-04T17:37:09Z")
Northern Irish band **D:Ream** had a brief moment of glory in the early 1990s including a UK number one with **Things Can Only Get Better.** Mainly for live appearances, they had \*\*Brian Cox \*\*on keyboards. Now better known as Professor Brian Cox OBE he has worked at CERN, written books on physics and does a lot of TV presenting. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/6 "2015-08-04T17:41:35Z")
I don’t know his IQ but Tom Scholz of Boston (don’t know if “currently popular” is one of your criteria) has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from MIT. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/7 "2015-08-04T17:46:39Z")
Brian May, PhD [Astrophysics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_May#Astrophysics) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/8 "2015-08-04T18:08:41Z")
Milo Auckerman is another [contender](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_Aukerman#Education_and_scientific_career) with a doctorate, though not necessarily champ. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/9 "2015-08-04T18:18:27Z")
[Deniz Tek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deniz_Tek) ( **Radio Birdman** , **New Race** ) is also a practicing surgeon & ER doctor in both Australia and Hawaii. Aditya Nair, guitarist for India’s most brutal death metal band, [**Bhayanak Maut**](http://bhayanakmaut.com), is a practicing psychiatrist. Jello Biafra is pretty fucking smart. So is Henry Rollins. Frank Zappa should prolly be somewhere near the top of the list, IMO. Professor Greg Graffin ( **Bad Religion** ) got his doctorate from Cornell and now teaches at UCLA, so he’s no dummy. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/10 "2015-08-04T19:13:47Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Brian May, PhD [Astrophysics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_May#Astrophysics) As listed in the OP as an obvious choice. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/11 "2015-08-04T19:17:55Z")
Dexter Holland, lead singer of The Offspring, is a doctoral student at the Laboratory of Viral Oncology and Proteomics Research at the Keck School of Medicine, where he’s co-authored papers on HIV genomes. ---
**Author:** ![RobotDevilDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@RobotDevilDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobotDevilDog)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/12 "2015-08-04T19:39:05Z")
I would like to mention Mr. Weird Al Yankovic. He was the valedictorian of his high school class at age 16. I don’t know what his IQ is, but I would imagine it’s fairly high. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/13 "2015-08-04T19:47:34Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > As listed in the OP as an obvious choice. But I provided details. Yeah, I missed it. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/14 "2015-08-04T20:29:37Z")
> [@RobotDevilDog](#): > > I would like to mention Mr. Weird Al Yankovic. He was the valedictorian of his high school class at age 16. I don’t know what his IQ is, but I would imagine it’s fairly high. Beat me to it. WAY also graduated college with a degree in Architecture. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/15 "2015-08-04T20:50:16Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Brian May, PhD [Astrophysics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_May#Astrophysics) Speaking of Dr. May…while his bandmates may not have been in his league, they weren’t slouches, either. - Bassist John Deacon was an electronics engineer, and built the trademark “Deacy” amp which he and May used, from a circuit board he pulled out of a dumpster, and a speaker cabinet. He also handles the band’s finances to the present day. - Drummer Roger Taylor studied dentistry and biology in college, receiving his bachelor’s degree in biology. - Freddie Mercury received a degree in art and graphic design, and designed the band’s logo. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/16 "2015-08-04T20:51:08Z")
Is this before or after years of dissolute rock and roll lifestyle? I mean, at the rate some of those guys go through brain cells, they must have started at genius levels just to still be able to write their names. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/17 "2015-08-04T20:54:05Z")
> [@RobotDevilDog](#): > > I would like to mention Mr. Weird Al Yankovic. He was the valedictorian of his high school class at age 16. I don’t know what his IQ is, but I would imagine it’s fairly high. He is in Mensa, or at least was at one time. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/18 "2015-08-04T21:28:49Z")
Kesha got a 1500 score out of a possible 1600 on the SAT, and I’ve seen her IQ listed at 140. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/19 "2015-08-04T22:29:45Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Kesha got a 1500 score out of a possible 1600 on the SAT, and I’ve seen her IQ listed at 140. Aye, that’s her story. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986/20 "2015-08-04T22:43:00Z")
> [@RobotDevilDog](#): > > I would like to mention Mr. Weird Al Yankovic. He was the valedictorian of his high school class at age 16. I don’t know what his IQ is, but I would imagine it’s fairly high. Sorry to spoil people’s image of an [internet meme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XArx0ASwyDc), but rapper [Froggy Fresh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Froggy_Fresh), aka Krispy Kreme, is probably not a stupid redneck but instead a [northern high school valedictorian](http://www.slacktory.com/2012/07/hunt-to-expose-krispy-kreme-as-rapper-tyler-cassidy/). Sterling Morrison (the Velvet Underground) had a PhD in medieval literature. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-star-with-the-highest-iq/726986.md?page=2)