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Quit Your Day Job: 20 Rockers and Their Pre-Fame Gigs

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There are plenty of straight-to-the-top success stories, those storied few who immediately shoot to the heights of stardom. But for every rock star who rocketed into the atmosphere, there are hundreds more who toil unglamorously to make ends meet. Here Spinner has compiled a list of some of the musicians who worked dull day jobs before hitting the big time. From stuffing envelopes and stripping to working a biochemical lab to delivering mail, some of these pre-rock gigs may surprise you.
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
JJ Gonson/Redferns
Kurt Cobain is one of the fathers of grunge, but before he became Nirvana's frontman his day job was arguably grungier than any of the music he would go on to make. After running away from home, Cobain made his living as a janitor, mopping up floors that probably smelled worse than teen spirit.
Madonna
Madonna
Michael Putland/Getty Images
Madonna is famous for her shape-shifting image and numerous reinventions. Perhaps this is due to her self-professed inability to hold several jobs for more than one day. One of the jobs from which she was canned in under 24 hours was working at Dunkin Donuts in Times Square: "I was sacked from Dunkin' Donuts for squirting the donuts jelly all over the customers." That sounds more provocative than it should.
B.B. King
B.B. King
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Like many Mississippi Delta musicians of his time, B.B. King lived an itinerant lifestyle. When he finally settled down, the blues legend got a job driving a tractor. Speaking fondly of this time, King once said, "I had never heard the word 'superstar' but when I think about it today, I was a superstar tractor driver. I loved it." Somebody get the man a John Deere -- dude's gonna love it
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Jeff Kravitz/Stringer
Before she released 'Jagged Little Pill' and became an international superstar, Alanis Morissette had one of the most boring jobs imaginable: Envelope stuffer. We wonder if she found any irony in the gig: Like 10,000 envelopes when all you need is a stamp?
Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Tom Waits and pizza aren't two things that are usually associated with each other. However, his musical tributes to Napoleone's Pizza, his former place of employment, have caused fan pilgrimages to the National City, Calif. eatery. Judging by the song titles -- 'I Can't Wait to Get Off Work' and 'The Ghosts of Saturday Night (After Hours at Napoleone's)' -- it seems Mr. Waits was none-too-enthused about his job. Still, we're sure the establishment is pretty happy that he wrote the song – after all, the place is still in business and features plenty of Tom's tracks on its jukebox.
Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Paul Natkin/WireImage
Despite being the son of a famed singer-songwriter, Jeff Buckley's own career in music was slow to get off the ground. While trying to make a go of it, Buckley worked the front desk at L.A.'s Magic Hotel -- a part of the famed magician hangout the Magic Castle -- for six years. We're sure he said a hallelujah or two when that was over.
The Pixies/Breeders' Kim Deal
Kim Deal
Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty Images
After she graduated from high school, Kim Deal went to seven different colleges -- and didn't graduate from any of them. That doesn't mean the Pixies and Breeders bassist wasn't smart, though. Deal eventually earned her associate degree in biology and worked in a biochemical lab.
Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Chuck Berry pretty much invented rock 'n' roll, so his degenerate past is an expected precursor to his legacy as a musician. When he was only 17, Berry robbed a bakery, a barbershop and a clothing store in Kansas City, was charged with armed robbery and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. After serving three years in Algoa Intermediate Reformatory, Berry was released and went on to find more wholesome jobs as a factory worker. Surprisingly, he even trained as a beautician for a short time!
The National's Matt Berninger
Matt Berninger
Ray Tamarra/Getty Images
Most rock stars live the romanticized "starving artist" cliche before they hit the big time. Not Matt Berninger of the National. "I was well into my 30s and I was creative director at a new-media company, dating a Swedish girl and flying to Stockholm on weekends. I was doing well," Berninger said in a 2010 interview. Not too shabby! Soon after, he was "35 and playing to 10 people and sleeping in youth hostels." Now that's the sort of decision-making that takes integrity, folks.
James Brown
James Brown
Gilles Petard/Redferns
James Brown was the hardest-working man in show business and it seems he worked darn hard outside of it, too. Before launching his musical career, Brown was convicted of armed robbery. After his release, he tried his hand at boxing and then as a baseball pitcher until a leg injury spoiled his chances of going pro. Luckily for him, his jailhouse stint led him to form a soul group with Bobby Byrd, and after singing for other inmates they would go on to be longtime collaborators. See? Jail can be constructive!
Debbie Harry
Deborah Harry
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Deborah Harry is undoubtedly one of the more alluring female figures in rock history. Still, it's a bit surprising to learn that the face of Blondie was once a face for Playboy. Then a brunette, Harry worked a stint at New York's Playboy Club as a bunny, where the frequent catcalls took their toll: "I fooled around with drugs and was consequently often half-asleep," she once said. Good thing she got out of that sordid business and into music.
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Mick Hutson/Redferns
Don't expect Eddie Vedder to look out for your safety. In his pre-Pearl Jam days, Vedder worked as a security guard at the La Valencia hotel. Unfortunately for him, he was fired for neglecting his duties in favor of playing the guitar. Some people are just born to rock, it seems.
Joy Division's Ian Curtis
Ian Curtis
Rob Verhorst/Redferns
Ian Curtis was a shockingly responsible rock star. In the early days of Joy Division, the baritone-voiced frontman held a full-time job as a welfare officer, helping the unemployed find work. The epileptic singer reportedly penned the song 'She's Lost Control' after seeing a girl having a seizure while at work.
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Michael Putland/Getty Images
Prior to joining Queen, Freddie Mercury made money in fashion and travel, which seems fitting. The enigmatic singer's pre-fame gigs included selling clothing and art in Kensington market -- a trade he continued after Queen released their first album -- and a stint in the catering department of Heathrow Airport. Perhaps his food-industry work gave rise to some 'Fat Bottomed Girls?'
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Johnny Cash is the epitome of stone-cold cool. During his time serving in the Air Force (cool) he was employed as a code breaker (very cool) based in Germany, intercepting Morse Code transmissions from Russia (so damn cool). That could possibly be more badass than having "killed a man in Reno just to watch him die."
Courtney Love
Courtney Love
Kevin Mazur/WireImage
We can pretty much expect anything from Courtney Love at this point. As a matter of fact, it almost makes too much sense that she spent a good deal of her early life as a stripper. The Hole singer purportedly worked in clubs as an exotic dancer in Portland, Japan, Taiwan and Alaska before marrying Kurt Cobain
Boy George
Boy George
Michael Putland/Getty Images
Remember when Boy George was just a normal dude? Neither do we, but he once had a normal job: Grocery bagger. Believe it or not, the gig didn't work out, as the 'Karma Chameleon' tunesmith was fired -- for wearing the bags. Oh, Boy.
AC/DC's Bon Scott
Bon Scott
Michael Putland/Getty Images
Before Bon Scott sang about highways to hell, he pounded the pavement on a less fiery route delivering mail. The AC/DC frontman worked a stint as a postman before he became a singer. He also worked briefly as a bartender and tried to join the Australian army, but was reportedly rejected for being "socially maladjusted."
Gaslight Anthem's Brian Fallon
Brian Fallon
WireImage
Much like his muse Bruce Springsteen, Gaslight Anthem frontman Brian Fallon's are truly blue collar. Before hitting it big, the singer and guitarist worked as a roofer and a carpenter in New Jersey. His other bandmates also had regular jobs: "We were all working within a mile of each other and we had one friend who put us all together," Fallon once revealed. Here's hoping they bought that friend a few beers.
Jenny Lewis
Jenny Lewis
Stephanie Allespach/WireImage
Jenny Lewis got her first work as an entertainer in a Jell-O commercial. The budding singer went on to be a successful child actress, starring in minor classics like 'The Wizard' with Fred Savage. She then formed Rilo Kiley with fellow child star Blake Sennett, who appeared in TV shows like 'Salute Your Shorts' and 'Boy Meets World.'

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