Before They Were Famous

Before They Were Famous

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We know them as rock stars and musical icons, but before they hit the big time they worked in every-day style jobs, some worse than others, and some that are completely unexpected. 

Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy, who suffered from dyslexia, left school early and held several part-time jobs. He was employed as a construction site labourer, trainee plumber, apprentice toolmaker, car factory horn-tuner, and abattoir worker. At age 15 he attempted to commit burglary, stealing a television (which fell on him during his getaway and had to be abandoned), a handful of baby clothes (originally thought to be adult clothes as it was too dark to see when he committed the burglary, and which were stolen to sell to people at a pub), and some T-shirts. He spent six weeks in Winson Green Prison when he was unable to pay a fine after being found guilty of robbing a clothes shop; to teach his son a lesson, his father refused to pay the fine. 

Phil Collins

Appearing here is a knitting pattern from the 60s as modeled by a young Phil Collins, showing the trend for Norsk and Norwegian knitwear. 

Roger Daltrey 

In a career spanning more than 50 years, Daltrey came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the founder and lead singer of The Who, which released fourteen singles that entered the Top 10 charts in the United Kingdom during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Before that, and still learning his musical craft,  he was a sheet metal worker during the day, while practicing, and performing nights with the band at weddings, pubs, and working men's clubs. 

Elvis Costello 

Costello worked at a number of office jobs to support himself, most famously at Elizabeth Arden – immortalised in the lyrics of "I'm Not Angry" as the "vanity factory" – where he worked as a data entry clerk. He worked for a short period as a computer operator at the Midland Bank computer centre in Bootle. He continued to write songs on the side while looking for a solo recording contract.

Rod Stewart 

After he dropped out of school at fifteen, Stewart worked as a screen printer printing wallpapers. It was an odd match, given that he's colorblind - he was laid off soon afterward and got a short-lived job putting picture frames together, then another brief stint as an electrician's assistant feeding wire into conduits. Stewart's soccer-crazed dad prodded him to become an apprentice at a professional soccer club in hopes that he'd become a professional soccer player, but Stewart quit because he disliked having to clean the team players' shoes in the morning. When his father retired, the family opened a newsstand. Stewart was forced to do newspaper rounds. The story about him being a grave-digger is a stretch; instead, he spent a few weekends earning a few pounds at the local cemetary measuring plotds and marking them with string. 

Stevie Nicks 

Believe it or not, our fave lady worked at Big Boys Burger Bar as a waitress before Fleetwood Mac were making any money. 

Madonna 

The Queen of pop and controversy was a backing dancer in this video for Patrick Hernandez' massive hit "Born To Be Alive"... although we are struggling to make out which one she is!

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