20 Musicians Who Were Once Teachers

Posted by Pat Pemberton
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Songwriters have often penned odes to being hot for teacher. But in the '80s, the Police turned the tables with 'Don't Stand So Close to Me,' about a teacher who lusts after a student. That would have just been an interesting twist were it not for the fact that frontman Sting had actually been a teacher, leading to speculation that he was writing about himself. (He later said it was pure fiction.) As we honor Teacher Appreciation Month, here are 20 musicians who have also worked on the other side of the desk.

Sheryl Crow

After studying theory and voice at the University of Missouri -- where she also fronted a rock band named Kashmir -- the 1984 graduate moved to St. Louis, where she taught music at Kellison Elementary School for two years. Later, she cashed in her teacher's pension and headed for California to make it as a jingle writer. Then Sheryl Crow became a backup singer for Michael Jackson. A decade after college graduation, she released her Grammy-winning album 'Tuesday Night Music Club.'

Gimme Education: 'All I Wanna Do'

Shirlaine Forrest, WireImage

Sting

Sting played with several bands while attending Northern Counties College of Education and continued to perform while teaching at St. Paul's First School in Cramington. During his two years as a school teacher, Sting was known to be strict, though several girls had crushes on him. Often absent from school to work on music, he eventually joined the Police. "When I got my degree, I became a teacher," he told the Malay Mail (Malaysia) in 2003. "But deep down, that's not what I wanted to be. Somehow God smiled on me -- it's your turn, you can have a hit record."

Gimme Education: 'Don't Stand So Close To Me'

Kevin Mazur, WireImage

Bun B

On the Rice University website, Bun B is listed as Bernard Freeman -- his real name -- with the title "distinguished lecturer." After appearing at Rice as a guest lecturer two years prior, Freeman -- one half of Houston hip-hop duo UGK -- was offered a greater role, teaching a class on religion and hip-hop. Despite his music industry connections, he told XXL Magazine that no student demos would be accepted until the end of the term. "If they're coming into the course specifically to give me a demo . . . that's a wrap on the first day."

Gimme Education: 'Int. Player's Anthem (I Choose You)'

Isaac Brekken, Getty Images

Peaches

Before Peaches' songs appeared in movies like 'Mean Girls' and 'Lost in Translation' and before she worked with artists like Pink, Christina Aguilera and Feist, this Canadian electronic musician's 'Teaches of Peaches' ended up in the music and drama departments at Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto, where students knew her as Ms. Merrill Beth Nisker. A former class clown in school, she also entertained kids at birthday parties before adopting a new name and a sexually-charged, gender-bending persona.

Gimme Education: 'F--- the Pain Away'

Jakubaszek, Getty Images

Kris Kristofferson

Before he wrote 'Me and Bobby McGee' and dated Janis Joplin, Kris Kristofferson won four Atlantic Monthly prizes for fiction and was awarded a prestigious Rhodes scholarship in 1958. After studying at Oxford, the future country star and actor volunteered for the Army, where he became a helicopter pilot and a captain. After briefly teaching at West Point, he was offered a full-time gig teaching English but turned it down so he could head to Nashville and write songs.

Gimme Education: 'Me and Bobby McGee'

Jan Persson, Redferns

Wyclef Jean

The former Fugees member and solo artist accepted an invitation in 2010 as a visiting fellow in the Department of African Studies at Brown University. The Haitian-born Wyclef Jean, who performs activist functions for his homeland, was appointed to participate in the school's Haitian Initiative, which includes lectures, faculty conversations and classes.

Gimme Education: 'Fu-gee-la'

C. Flanigan, FilmMagic

Steve Miller

After attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison for four years, this guitar-slinging rocker dropped out just six credits shy of an English degree. "College was just an opportunity for gigs," he told the USA Today. In 2010, Steve Miller was named artist-in-residence at USC, where he taught master classes for students enrolled in the school's music and music industry programs.

Gimme Education: 'Joker'

Harry Herd, Redferns

Brian May

Before he rocked stadiums as Queen's guitarist, Brian May was working toward a doctorate, writing papers with intriguing titles like "Mgl Emission in the Night-Sky Spectrum" and "An Investigation of the Motion of Zodiacal Dust Particles." Once he got rock stardom out of the way, the astrophysicist completed his Ph.D in 2007. That same year the man who wrote 'I Want It All' was appointed chancellor of Liverpool Moores University.

Gimme Education: 'Under Pressure'

Redferns / Getty Images

Gene Simmons

You probably wouldn't expect the blood-spitting, sex-craving Kiss bassist to be teacher material. With good reason. "I did it for six months, and I wanted to kill every single kid," Gene Simmons told Newsday in 1988. His job teaching sixth graders in Spanish Harlem ended, legend has it, after he ditched Shakespeare plays in favor of Spider-Man comic books.

Gimme Education: 'Sweet Pain'

Michael Ochs Archive / Getty Images

Art Garfunkel

Perhaps he wasn't sure if Simon & Garfunkel was going to hit it big -- or maybe he figured the duo wouldn't last. But even as they recorded albums, Art Garfunkel attended the Columbia University Teacher's College, where he began working on a doctorate between studio time and concerts. He even briefly taught math at the Litchfield Preparatory School in Connecticut. But it didn't take a math major to realize the royalties from 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' would pay far better than any teaching gig.

Gimme Education: 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'

Michael Ochs Archive / Getty Images

Todd Rundgren

In 2010, the 'Hello It's Me' singer and influential producer was asked to be a Wells Scholars Professor at Indiana University. During his 2-week gig, Todd Rundgren taught courses on his life and music, participated in a class on the Beatles and even performed his hit 'Bang the Drum All Day' with the IU marching band during halftime at a Hoosiers football game.

Gimme Education: 'Bang on the Drum All Day'

Gijsbert Hanekroot, Redferns

Roberta Flack

After earning a music scholarship to attend Howard University at 15, Roberta Flack became a high school English teacher in North Carolina. Eventually, Flack taught music as well before she was discovered while singing at a Washington, D.C. club. "The kids had never been actively involved in singing," the Grammy winner told the Chicago Tribune of her teaching experience in 1986. "I exposed them to Bach, Mozart, Handel, all the great choral things." Her song 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' shot up to #1 in 1972.

Gimme Education: 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'

David Redfern, Redferns

J-Live

Before he quit teaching to become a rapper, J-Live was known to eighth graders at Junior High School 296 in Brooklyn as Mr. Cadet. While they knew Mr. Cadet occasionally deejayed on weekends, they didn't know he had sold tens of thousands of records and toured Europe and Japan. "I wanted to make sure there was not a lack of focus in the class when I was teaching," he told the Evening News in Edinburgh. Even after becoming successful in hip-hop, J-Live has vowed to return to teaching.

Gimme Education: 'School's In'

Fernando Leon, Getty Images

Paul Simon

Not long after partner Art Garfunkel closed the book on his teacher career, Paul Simon took his place at the front of the classroom. In 1970, after recording the 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' album, Simon was invited to teach a songwriting workshop at NYU's School of the Arts. Auditions for the workshop were advertised in the Village Voice, and one of those selected was future Grammy winner Melissa Manchester, who now teaches a class at USC.

Gimme Education: 'Mrs. Robinson'

Ivan Keeman, Redferns

Lamont Dozier

As an important cog in the famous Holland-Dozier-Holland hit making machine at Motown, Lamont Dozier penned dozens of #1 singles for acts like Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops and the Supremes. This year, the singer was named an artist-in-residence professor at USC, where he helped create the music performance program. When asked by USC News if songwriting could be taught, Dozier said it could if students are willing to listen and observe. "A lot of people don't know how to listen," he said. "They're too busy trying to tell you about themselves."

Gimme Education: 'Trying to Hold on to My Woman'

Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

Rob Leonard

The inspiration for a character on the TV show 'Bones,' Leonard is one of few who can claim to have worked with both the Grateful Dead and the FBI. A founding member of '50s cover band Sha Na Na, he earned his Ph.D from Columbia College, where he became an expert in forensic linguistics and assisted law enforcement in high-profile murder cases. For his doctoral dissertation, he studied Swahili -- a language he still teaches at Hofstra University, where he is a linguistics professor.

Gimme Education: 'Remember Then'

Ed Betz, AP

JT Taylor

Education was always stressed in JT Taylor's family, which included teachers, attorneys and a social workers. Taylor, who earned an academic scholarship to attend Norfolk State University, was a former nursery school teacher and amateur night club singer in the late '70s when he auditioned -- and passed the test -- to become the lead singer for Kool and the Gang.

Gimme Education: 'Fresh'

Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

Mark Volman

A mediocre student in high school, Volman figured he'd become a sheet metal worker like his father if music didn't pan out. Luckily, the band he co-founded, the Turtles, did take off, scoring several hits in the '60s. Years later, the singer was visiting a college with his oldest daughter when he decided to enroll himself at age 44. He went on to earn master's and teach music business at his alma mater, Loyola Marymount, before taking a position as an adjunct music professor at Belmont University in Nashville. Today he chairs the entertainment industry studies program at Belmont -- and tours with the Turtles in his spare time.

Gimme Education: 'I Know That You'll Be There'

Jorgen Angel, Redferns

Greg Graffin

Not willing to give up his passion for music or education, Graffin has been known to give biology lectures and grade papers during the day while laying down tracks for the next Bad Religion album at night. Graffin earned his B.A. from UCLA and his a Ph.D from Cornell, writing a dissertation on the attitudes of prominent evolutionary biologists toward science and religion. An author of books on evolution and religion, the punk rocker, who now teaches at Cornell, released his band's 15th album last year.

Gimme Education: 'I Want to Conquer the World'

Stuart Mostyn, Redferns

Kenny Aronoff

Even as he continued to perform as John Mellencamp's drummer, Aronoff joined the faculty at Indiana University's School of Music to teach percussion. After several years as an associate professor, his burgeoning career as a session drummer -- he eventually appeared on over 30 Grammy-nominated recordings -- forced him to quit the classroom.

Gimme Education: 'Hand to Hold on To'

Rick Diamond, Getty Images

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RICHIE and MYLA

!. What ever happened to th rock group The Thunders from long island back in the late 60's? Is Ritchie Green the lead guitarist still around, the group? would like to here those guys again ...any day! HEY RICH WHERE R U?

August 17 2011 at 6:53 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Mathew Hopkins

I just paid $ 24,31 for an iPad2-64GB and my girlfriend loves her Panasonic GF 1 Camera that we got for $ 34,26 there arriving tomorrow by UPS. I will never pay such expensive retail prices in stores again. Especially when I also sold a 42 inch L.E.D TV to my boss for $ 678 which only cost me $68,18 to buy. Here is the website we use to get it all from, CentSpace.com

August 04 2011 at 9:06 AM Report abuse Permalink -1 rate up rate down Reply

timikmdowns

You forgot Clifford T Ward, an english and drama teacher from here in the UK, who was also a popular singer-songwriter but sadly died in 2001 from Multiple Sclerosis.

July 20 2011 at 8:37 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply