# Rock stars who rejoined the workaday world **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 2, 2021, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498 "2021-07-02T10:38:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/41 "2021-07-03T06:37:43Z")
Richard Coles was in the Communards, and later became a CofE vicar. (Though some might say that’s sort of showbiz still: and he does do occasional TV and radio presenting) [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard\_Coles](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Coles) ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/42 "2021-07-03T07:42:34Z")
Vanilla Ice flips houses. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/43 "2021-07-03T07:50:03Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Richard Coles was in the Communards, and later became a CofE vicar. (Though some might say that’s sort of showbiz still: and he does do occasional TV and radio presenting) Very regular radio presenting (I’m listening to him now) and quite frequent TV work. Yup, he’s still in showbiz, though we don’t hear much of his music nowadays. There are several other very effective CofE vicars who are ex showbiz names. God be thanked for them. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/44 "2021-07-03T11:11:58Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Alex James from Blur bought a dairy farm and produces a wide range of award-winning cheeses. His bandmate Dave Rowntree started a computer animation company and later got himself elected to his local county council. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/45 "2021-07-03T15:23:38Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Roger Powell was a protege of Robert Moog and a pioneer in the development of keyboard synthesizers. He is probably most “famous” for being the keyboard/synth player for Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. After his music career he went back to work at Apple and Electronic Arts. His Wikipedia page is a little sparse, so I’m not sure where I read it, but I thought John “Willie” Wilcox (also of Utopia) had also gotten into some kind of tech or research job after his music career. Hopefully I’m not just mixing him up with Powell. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/46 "2021-07-03T15:53:44Z")
Drummers obviously have fewer options for staying in the limelight than most other members of the band. The drummer for Squeeze, Gilson Lavis, ended up driving a minicab for some years. So did the drummer for the Clash, Topper Headon. (In fact, when Headon “returned to music,” it was as a _busker_. How humiliating! Yes, substance abuse was a factor…) The drummer for the Jam, Rick Buckler, restored antique furniture for 12 years. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/47 "2021-07-03T16:33:53Z")
Remaining momentarily with drummers, in the 1980s Moe Tucker (five years a member of Velvet Underground) took a few years sabbatical leave from the music business at a Walmart distribution centre, where she worked as a billing clerk. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/48 "2021-07-03T16:35:55Z")
Apologies. I’ve just seen that upthread. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/49 "2021-07-03T16:42:13Z")
MTV had that program where they tried to reunite bands. While searching for the members of “Extreme” (More than Words) they found bassist Pat Badger was raising alpacas. > **[Extreme Alpaca](http://www.lapdogcreations.com/2006/07/extreme-alpaca.html)** > > Pet lifestyle blog following 3 rescue dogs and their multi-tasking Mom who loves to knit and create. Dog Products. Reviews. Training. Life with Dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/50 "2021-07-03T17:01:31Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I don’t know about “drudgery” but farming seems to be popular: > > Jim Martin from Faith No More became a pumpkin farmer and property manager. > > JB Gill from JLS became a pig and turkey farmer. > > Bill Berry from REM became a hay farmer. > > And Alex James from Blur bought a dairy farm and produces a wide range of award-winning cheeses. I suspect that many, or all, of them are what used to be called a “gentleman farmer”. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2021, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/51 "2021-07-03T17:52:34Z")
Kelley Deal of The Breeders does accounting work for Routsong Funeral Home in Dayton, Ohio. The band members even made a [music video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb46UMdmGqY) at her place of work. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/52 "2021-07-04T04:17:20Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Vanilla Ice flips houses. Yeah; but he gets a TV show about it. Still in show-biz, I think. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I suspect that many, or all, of them are what used to be called a “gentleman farmer”. Maynard from Tool makes wine (and other stuff). But I think his ‘day job’ is Rock Mother Fucker. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/53 "2021-07-04T05:13:55Z")
Ian Anderson was in the the salmon fishing business for a while, up to and including going out on boats. John Hall of Orleans was elected to Congress. So, for that matter, was Sonny Bono. > **[John Hall (New York politician)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hall_(New_York_politician))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > John Joseph Hall (born July 23, 1948) is an American musician, songwriter, politician, environmentalist, and community activist. He was elected to the legislature of Ulster County, New York, in 1989 and the Saugerties, New York Board of Education in 1991, and he was the U.S. representative for New York's 19th congressional district, serving from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Hall also founded the rock band Orleans in 1972 a... While they never made it to superstar status, one of my favorite albums of all time is by the late 1970s prog band Starcastle (specifically, “Fountains of Light”) and their keyboardist, Herb Schildt, traded a Moog for a computer keyboard; he’s published numerous books about computer programming for laypeople, and taught that subject at a community college for many years. > **[Herbert Schildt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Schildt)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Herbert Schildt is an American computing author, programmer and musician. He has written books about various programming languages. He was also a founding member of the progressive rock band Starcastle. > Schildt holds both graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He claims he was a member of the original ANSI committee that standardized the C language in 1989, and the ANSI/ISO committees that u... However, that’s nothing compared to what their drummer, Stephen Tassler, did. He’s a physician in the Chicago suburbs. He has a picture of the band in the waiting room, and more than once, new patients have come in and asked the receptionist, “Why is there a picture of Starcastle in the waiting room?” Likewise, I had never heard of the deathcore band Chelsea Grin until the guitarist, Dan Jones, announced that he was leaving the band because he, too had been accepted to medical school. Some entertainers take day jobs because they want to be guaranteed their Social Security quarters when the time comes. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/54 "2021-07-04T06:08:55Z")
Kate Pierson of the B-52s runs a [resort](https://www.lazymeadow.com/) in the Catskill Mountains, which she restored to all it’s mid-century pastel tiled glory. But like the “gentleman farmers” previously mentioned, I suspect that’s more of a side project, and her main source of income is still from her music. Marky Ramone was a bike messenger in Manhattan for a while after he left the music business. ---
**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 4, 2021, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/55 "2021-07-04T07:32:40Z")
Little Richard, very early in his career, had some hits for Peacock Records. He got in a fight with the label head, Don Robey, over money, and briefly dropped out of music to make more money washing dishes at a Greyhound station dinette in Atlanta. A few months later, Pat Boone covered one of his songs and he was suddenly back onstage and had signed with a different label. Professor Longhair dropped out of the music business in 1964 and worked as a janitor. In 1971, Mick Jagger discovered that Longhair was still alive, pulled him back into the biz, where he stayed performing and recording until his death in 1980. I briefly worked at a print shop in the DC area with a former member of the Clovers. He had joined the lineup long after the group’s recording career ended and did a lot of state fair-type shows with them for a couple of years. It was neither a prime gig nor a permanent one. Not exactly a rock star, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/56 "2021-07-04T19:26:05Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > Drummers obviously have fewer options for staying in the limelight than most other members of the band. > > The drummer for Squeeze, Gilson Lavis, ended up driving a minicab for some years. So did the drummer for the Clash, Topper Headon. (In fact, when Headon “returned to music,” it was as a _busker_ . How humiliating! Yes, substance abuse was a factor…) The drummer for the Jam, Rick Buckler, restored antique furniture for 12 years. Pat Benatar drummer Myron Grombacher was running the sales department for a Dodge dealership in Glendale Ca in the 2000s. Sadly, he could not get me the right deal. Ex Warrant guitarist Billy Morris runs a [lunch truck](https://smokinrocknroll.com/). ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/57 "2021-07-04T21:20:08Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > John Hall of Orleans was elected to Congress. So, for that matter, was Sonny Bono. Krist Novoselic of Nirvana has active in politics as well. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krist\_Novoselic#Political\_and\_social\_activism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krist_Novoselic#Political_and_social_activism) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/58 "2021-07-04T22:55:14Z")
Original Foreigner bassist Ed Gagliardi (1952-2014) also worked for a car dealership for many years after he left the entertainment industry. > **[Ed Gagliardi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gagliardi)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Edward John Gagliardi (February 13, 1952 – May 11, 2014) was an American bass guitarist, best known as the original bass player for the 1970s rock band Foreigner. He was a member of Foreigner from the beginning in 1976. Gagliardi, most notably, played a Fireglo Rickenbacker bass guitar, left-handed even though he was naturally right-handed. It is widely known that he did so out of admiration, and devotion to Paul McCartney (most often self-doctore... ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/59 "2021-07-04T23:04:42Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > > > John Hall of Orleans was elected to Congress. So, for that matter, was Sonny Bono. > > Krist Novoselic of Nirvana has active in politics as well. [Krist Novoselic - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krist_Novoselic#Political_and_social_activism) If political office counts as joining the “workaday world”, then [Peter Garrett](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Garrett), lead singer of Midnight Oil, who was an MP in the Australian Parliament. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498/60 "2021-07-04T23:06:55Z")
Tommy James, of the Shondells, was a truck driver for Walmart for quite a while. He had married and had kids, and needed a stable income and health insurance, and this job also accommodated his performing schedule, which was mostly state fairs in the summertime. He had moved with his wife to her Midwestern hometown, which had that center. In addition, at some time in his life, he became a born-again Christian and belongs to a speaker’s bureau, giving faith-based talks at churches and community organizations. He spoke at a large church in my old town which was attended by a co-worker who told me about this, and one thing he mentioned was that their manager had ripped him off (not an uncommon thing to this day). However, he was glad he didn’t get all that money, because he wasn’t old enough to know what to do with it, and it would have ruined his life if not outright killed him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-stars-who-rejoined-the-workaday-world/945498.md?page=4)