Oh, he’s been at our local school since it opened, 15 or 16 years ago (and he’s still there). The issue is that, in taking on the non-music job (in order to get out from under his student loan debt), he isn’t able to teach any lessons before 6:30 or 7pm any longer. At least at our school, most of the kids who take lessons are taking them between 3pm and 6pm.
Yes. I remember talking, years and years ago, to Johnny Ramone (friend of a friend). He was pretty bitter that the Ramones had never become what he would have called “rock stars.” I remember thinking, “Dude, you’re Johnny Ramone. You might not be able to fill Madison Square Garden, but you can fill a decent sized hall in pretty much any city in the world. You’ve done pretty well for yourself, don’t you think?”
I just remembered another guy I know slightly (went to high school with his brother). He had a band in NYC back in the 70s that was kind of a darling of the CBGBs crowd. They never really grew out of that scene, and never got well-known outside of New York City. But he went on to become a successful studio musician, and makes tons of money (because, unlike pretty much anyone else from that scene, he can sight-read and has a really good knowledge of theory, and can play pretty much anything). Not rock star money, I guess, but I’m almost certain (judging by the home he owns) that he makes more than $200,000 a year. He too thinks he never really made it, and yet he’s an extremely successful musician.
My former boss was the guitarist in a hair metal band in the 80s that reached moderate levels of success (appearances on national TV, and folks from their city immediately recognize the band name even now when I mention them).
In his case, he and the bassist wanted to get married, but her dad forbade it unless he got a ‘real job’. So he quit the band, got an entry level job as a graphic designer at an ad agency, and 15-20 years later was the president of the agency.
He and the bassist are still married, and they occasionally get together with their old bandmates to play in clubs. He’s probably better off today, in terms of financial and physical health, than he would be if he’d stayed in the band.
Found a video of one of their ‘reunion’ performances from 2003 where all the original members are together. He’s the guitarist in the dark shirt with a solo from around 3:30.
They were never anything like superstars, but 90’s garage punk band the Oblivians still reside in Memphis, where Eric started a record label and store called Goner Records. His partner, Zach Ives was in The Final Solutions with Jay Reatard. I think they both still have regular everyday jobs, but the store has done well enough that their yearly Gonerfest (three days of local and international garage, punk, weirdo bands) regularly gets a decent amount of press.
The didn’t really fail–they had a string of some really good power pop albums–but Chris Collingwood was never thrilled by “rock stardom” and everything that went with it. He pretty much decided to leave FOW behind to go off and do his own lower-key thing (Look Park). The other main songwriter Adam Schlesinger has enjoyed quite a bit of success outside of the band, including a whole mess of film and TV work.
There was no way the other guys in the band could carry on without the two songwriters, so that was the end of Fountains of Wayne. They never hit the “big time”, but they didn’t “fail” either.
One other thing a “failed rock star” can do is become an instrument tech. According to an article in Wall Street Journal in 2015, a top touring guitar tech pulls in $200k:
I’ve seen this, working at the local convention center. A few years ago, some local group of mostly “older” people had an event here, and they had some musical entertainment. In the kitchen, through the door to the ballroom, I heard the singer, and sorta recognized the voice. After wracking my brain for a few minutes, I sorta laughed and thought, “What, they hired a B.J. Thomas impersonator?” A little bit later I found a copy of the event program, and … yeah, that was actually B.J. Thomas out there.
Gervaise did have some success with his New Wave band (Seona Dancing). His very brief peak was at the right time though because it was when they were inviting British band members to be in the “Do They Know it’s Christmastime?” video and he’s in it rubbing shoulders with many of the greats.
Colin Hanks was on Conan recently and he mentioned his early rock band days. While he’s best known as a (not all that great) actor, he makes documentaries about bands.
Dunno if I’d really class him as “failed”, but Willie Nile was tipped for big things after his first couple of albums in the early 80s, but various personal and legal issues meant he only managed to release two further albums in the next 25 years. But now, he’s had more albums out in the last 10 years than the whole of his prior career, been touring constantly, and when I saw him last year (he was 68 years old) put on one of the best, most energetic rock shows I’ve ever seen, more than keeping up with a band half his age. To a crowd of at most 100, as well.
Dunno whether that counts as success or failure from his point of view, but the show and his albums are fantastic.
I’ve seen hundreds of bands and musicians over the years, and am friends with quite a few. The majority of them consider simply getting a chance to record and perform to be a success. Another one I remember from last year is a Texan folk singer named Chuck Hawthorne, a guy with a rather interesting back story as he spent over twenty years as a US Marine before leaving to try to make a career in music. He came to play to a crowd of less than 20 people in a small club in the English Midlands, and seemed delighted to have the opportunity to come play to people here and visit a place he’d never been before. He was happy to talk with people before and after the show, as well as telling stories during the set, and overall was a great performer, and seemed a great person as well.
Success seems to be a difficult thing to quantify, but plenty of people I’ve spoken to seem to consider being paid to travel the world and play their music to be a form of success.
Years ago we had a regular poster called** Aha** who as the lead guitarist for the 60’s band The Five Americans who had a Top Five hit and several minor hits. He went on his own for a while and did well. Now he’s a school administrator in Oklahoma.
Usually they just remain musicians, just not famous ones. My friend Steve lives across from one of the Muffins in Martha and the Muffins - I think it was Mark Gane - who had a number of hits in Canada in the 80s and one international hit, “Echo Beach.” Basically an equivalent level of success to having one hit in the USA, let’s say, like Tommy Tutone. The still go around playing shows. People in the 40s and 50s will go see them, they command more than enough to pay the bills, and there you go.
A couple of years ago I saw Spoons, a very similar band of equivalent success and from about the same time, play an outdoor festival near my house (they were actually better live than their records would have made me believe.) Then last year they played by kids’ school - a curious choice given that none of the kids knew who they were, but I guess the kids were quite impressed. Anyway, now they just play the odd show for fun and beer money, but pretty much all members of the band are working in the music industry and collecting royalty checks.
They did “Western Union”.
I just heard yesterday that the manager of Edinburgh’s best (possibly only!) Mexican deli has resigned - his old band, The Skids, have reformed for a 40th Anniversary tour & album and he wants to go back on the road!
They were well known in the UK but I don’t know about in the US.
I had never heard of the deathcore band Chelsea Grin until yesterday.
Their guitarist has been accepted into medical school.
One of my cousin’s teenage idol was Bobby Sherman who had some hits and acting jobs. After he appeared on the tv show “Emergency” (the one where creator Jack Webb gave a job to his ex-wife Julie London and her husband Bobby Troup), he became interested in EMT work and began working in that field.
Just ask Aldo Nova.
Good for Mr. Jones! Chelsea Grin are from SLC. IMO they have consistently delivered good albums and rank among America’s best deathcore acts, right up there with Carnifex and Mitch Lucker-era Suicide Silence.
But why would anyone equate entering medical school with being a “failed” rock star? 
I’m not sure how to answer this meaningfully, because I don’t know any famous musicians.
I’d guess that they find and buy a house somewhere & either live frugally off of their investments or that they find a new line of work.
For all anyone knows, they might be your neighbors.