After They Were Famous?

Posted by Kiwigavin@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 43 comments

What’s the “back to real life” story you’ve heard about a musician or actor after their gig was up? They can’t all be “still making music” or “involved in workshops” as they’ve put on their Wikipedia entries.

I once met a Holyoaks actor (workmate’s brother) who’d plot had run its course (rape trial?) and he said he was probably going back to being a roofer (no irony intended) till something else came up. At least he admitted it.

Likewise I believe the original drummer from the Animals went back to his Dad’s butcher’s shop.

Any other stories?

[-]

wallenstein3d@reddit

One of the seminal early drum and bass acts from the 1990s came from our town (Essence of Aura), they played all the big raves and as a group were credited with pioneering the shift to atmospheric / intelligent DnB. Two of them still live locally in town and work as builders (although one is still releasing tunes on the Planet V label).

[-]

Lynvor@reddit

Is the guy who plays Bradley Branning now a chef in a garden centre?

[-]

Secure_Music_6062@reddit

Zamo from Grange Hill became a key cutter in a shop nearby to where I went to uni

[-]

lottesometimes@reddit

someone from Corrie used to work the door at a bar I worked at in my student days.

[-]

Kiwigavin@reddit (OP)

Chris Quentin? Played Brian Tillsley, one of Gail’s many husbands. IIRC, he thought he had it made as an actor, demanded a raise or he was off to Hollywood. So they killed him off and he wound up as a nightclub greeter.

[-]

One-Program6244@reddit

Gladys Knight who sang the Bond theme "Licence to Kill" now owns and runs a chain of ckicken eateries.

[-]

Kiwigavin@reddit (OP)

Yesh, but she’s still touring.

[-]

sanehamster@reddit

My favourite is guitarist Skunk Baxter, (Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers), who is a defence consultant on missiles. But to be fair he's still famous.

Keyboard player from Scottish folk rockers Runrig is a Scot. Nat MP at Westminster.

Alex James of Blur is a cheese maker

[-]

usernameinmail@reddit

Barry Evans (Mind Your Language and Doctor At Large) became a minicab driver when roles dried up

[-]

CityOfNorden@reddit

The woman who played Tracy Barlow in Corrie, before Kate Ford, is the DJ at Fab Cafe in Manchester now. Or was a couple of years ago anyway.

[-]

Repulsive_Coffee@reddit

Barry, from the Cillit Bang adverts, hosts a weekly pub quiz around here.

[-]

smellyfeet25@reddit

Yesterday the bus driver said after trying to help a rather difficult older lady off a bus told us on the bus he used to be an entertainer and had been on Britain's got talent . i think a guy who was in corrie now is a reporter and a woman who sang on a number one song called back to life is a part time teacher .Yes i heard vanilla ice has done okay . I wonder if you can live off a massive none hit wonder ? I guess if you bought property it would have been a great investment.

[-]

MrPloppyHead@reddit

Eddie the eagle is famously a plasterer. Sold all his rights a way for a pittance years ago. Although he did have a it of a revival.

[-]

idontlikemondays321@reddit

One of the characters from Life on Mars is a plasterer. I wonder how much he gets asked about it when on jobs.

[-]

Kiwigavin@reddit (OP)

Now that’s what I mean! Which character?

[-]

idontlikemondays321@reddit

Chris / Marshall Lancaster

[-]

Extreme-Composer8452@reddit

Joey Belladonna got kicked from anthrax and then went and worked at a horse farm. I think he's back in the band now. But it was years

[-]

cantevenmakeafist@reddit

The guitarist, Dan Spitz, became a high-end watchmaker.

[-]

Any_Marsupial836@reddit

I once got shown around an auction property in Walthamstow by an ex-children’s tv presenter, circa 2009.

[-]

waitedforg0d0t@reddit

the lead singer of the Dismemberment Plan became a computer programmer after the band first broke up, and met his wife at the company he worked at

she wrote a lovely article about what it's like to discover that your husband is the lead singer of a cult indie band

https://slate.com/human-interest/2012/07/travis-morrison-and-the-dismemberment-plan-what-its-like-to-marry-a-rock-star.html

[-]

ARealTim@reddit

The best one I know by a long way is James Williamson.

He was the brilliant and ground-breaking guitarist for the proto-punk band The Stooges which brought out an all-time classic album in the 1970s - Raw Power. After The Stooges collapsed as a band, James went to university and trained as an electronics engineer. He worked in Silicon Valley and ended up having a very successful career in the industry spanning 30 years. He took early retirement in 2009 and since then has been part of a number of musical projects including a reformed Iggy and the Stooges.

Lots more detail on Wikipedia if anyone is interested.

[-]

Evening-Tomatillo-47@reddit

Iirc Jeffrey (of Rainbow fame) became a taxi driver

[-]

Martipar@reddit

I was genuinely trying to work out which instrument he played. Wrong Rainbow.

[-]

Kiwigavin@reddit (OP)

You’re thinking of the one that had Bungle on drums.

[-]

Timely_Cake_917@reddit

Partly due at the time to the earning such a role of rainbow provided. They also didn't do residuals like they do now

He also had little financial knowledge so ended up like many USA sports players do.

Also didn't have long term options once Rainbow ended. It's why footballers will try to get into punditry or coaching (back a number of years ago this wasn't an option for them either)

[-]

DaveBeBad@reddit

Famously worked in a Sainsbury’s too.

They are people and need to earn a living to pay the bills. Very, very few earn the money they need to retire at 30.

[-]

LeftyTimStoutheart@reddit

And if they did earn good money they've managed to blow it by living an extravagant lifestyle or falling for a scam.

[-]

Mother-Market-4056@reddit

I read Pop Scars by Anthony Kavanagh, AKA the late 90s pop star Kavanagh last summer. Fucking hell, he went through the wringer. Went from getting sacked from McDonald's to Top of the Pops in about a year but his career just didn't take off as he planned. It's a great read, very funny at points and really sad in others.

[-]

Kiwigavin@reddit (OP)

Thanks for that. I must admit the name is not familiar, but I love a good read, so I’ll get it.

[-]

Martipar@reddit

Simon Le Bon (of Duran Duran), His wife Yasmin Le Bon and his friend moved to Japan to make vieo game music including the Gate of Thunder soundtrack.

https://youtu.be/_9sM-R9Hzao

I don't know if they moved back at all but SYN Productions are still going.

[-]

ToiletDestroyer6000@reddit

My old maths teacher was in a chart topping band or so he used to say, I can’t remember the name of his band but I saw him at tescos a couple of years ago buying a couple of Vienettas.

[-]

Liquor_D_Spliff@reddit

A small part character from a popular sitcom owns a carpet fitting company in my town.

[-]

cupidstunt01@reddit

I once worked on the same site as the former drummer from The Jags. He was painting & decorating at the time, lovely bloke, great tune!.

https://youtu.be/Xuh_BWZlJlY?si=xjzRFlo95f3FpWIs

[-]

Far-Radio856@reddit

Doesn’t vanilla ice sell mountain bikes now?

[-]

Patecatli@reddit

No, he became a successful property investor, made millions apparently.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/entertainment/vanilla-ice-built-multi-million-dollar-real-estate-empire-doing-nothing

[-]

Maleficent-Purple403@reddit

Pretty sure the Happy Monday's guitarist never stopped being a postie - I heard a story of him having to leave before their after-party when they played Top Of The Pops to get back in time for his post round... (reading that back, though, that may be something of an urban myth...)

[-]

When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!

Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.