A comprehensive list of the bizarre things rock stars get up to in their spare time…
1) Bruce Dickinson
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? …Well yes, and Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson is flying it. The heavy metal legend is in fact a trained pilot and even flew the band around in their very own Boeing 757, named ‘Ed Force One‘, for their 2008/09 tour. Also, bizarrely enough, Bruce has founded a fencing equipment company called ‘Duellist‘ and ranked 7th in Great Britain at the sport. On top of all that, Bruce has also penned two novels, entitled The Adventures of Lord Iffy Boatrace and The Missionary Position. We can barely believe it either!
2) Jared Leto
I suppose it was inevitable that pretty boy and 30 Seconds To Mars frontman Jared Leto became an ‘actor slash model’. However, as well as featuring in a Hugo Boss fragrance commercial, most of Jared’s acting roles have ended in him being brutally beaten up or murdered. In Fight Club he was beaten to a pulp by Edward Norton, and in American Psycho he is killed with an axe by Christian Bale. In fact someone has made this rather hilarious video compiling all of Jared’s death scenes. Warning! Not for the faint hearted.
3) Jared Reddick
As well as singing for Bowling For Soup, Jared Reddick also lends his vocal chords to the American cartoon series Phineas and Ferb. Jared voices the character of Danny, who has a band called Love Händel. Bowling For Soup also wrote and sang the show’s theme tune “Today is Gonna Be a Great Day”.
4) Gerard Way
Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance has also turned his hand to writing comic books. He has written two series of The Umbrella Academy, the first of which was released in 2007 and went on to win the 2008 Eisner Award for Best Finite Series/Limited Series. Gerard is also currently developing another comic book series entitled “The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys”, based around the characters MCR created for their latest album.
5) Andrew W.K.
Party Hard singer Andrew W.K. is also a motivational speaker. He’s spoken at several American Universities and embarked on a “One Man Show” tour, during which he played piano and invited audience members on stage to party with him. You can watch a clip of Mr W.K. talking about the ‘Paradox Of Partying’ here.
6) Tom Delonge
Tom Delonge of Blink 182 has set up a website called ‘Strange Times‘, which is dedicated to highlighting reports of UFO activity and the latest news in theories. Spooky stuff!
7) Mark Hoppus
Tom’s Blink 182 band mate Mark Hoppus, has turned his hand to TV presenting, hosting his own show ‘Hoppus On Music’ on American TV network Fuse. The show features music news, panel discussions and special reports from the show’s correspondents as well as musical performances by both mainstream and emerging bands.
8) Brian May
Big haired guitarist Brain May of Queen fame also has a PHD in astrophysics and has co-authored two scientific research papers as well as a book with monocle enthusiast Sir Patrick Moore He even has an asteroid – ‘52665 Brianmay’ – named after him.
9) Gene Simmons
As well as being the bass player of flamboyant rockers KISS, Gene Simmons also launched his own men’s lifestyle magazine back in 2002. Gene Simmons’ Tongue – yes, that’s what it was actually called – was discontinued after five issues.
10) Serj Tankian
As well as working with System Of A Down and on his solo material, beardy rock legend Serj Tankian is also a playwright. He co-wrote a musical based on the Ancient Greek tragedy Prometheus Bound. How cultured!
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