We all studied somewhere and, accordingly, work according to the results. Not always in the specialty, but here’s how it worked out. Not knowing about their calling, many future stars received simple working specialties. It makes it all the more interesting to look at the education and subsequent career of famous rock musicians.
01) Brian Harold May is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist best known as the lead guitarist for the rock band Queen. May graduated from the prestigious Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Imperial College London. Brian had already largely completed his Ph.D. thesis in infrared astronomical research and had two scientific publications in astronomy: in Nature and the Royal Astronomical Society’s monthly newsletter when Queen’s success forced him to interrupt his scientific career.
02) Christopher Anthony John Martin is the lead singer of Coldplay. Chris spent his childhood at Exeter Cathedral School Preparatory School and Sherborne School in Dorset. After graduating from these educational institutions, the future musician entered the University College in London at the Faculty of Ancient History. Here he mastered the Greek and Latin languages and, in addition, made friends who share his musical tastes. Christopher’s specialty is the most humanitarian of all, but no less difficult. Each of us in the university turned to paper writing help when it was very difficult to write an essay or report.
03) Dexter Holland (The Offspring). The first thing I want to say about Dexter, whose real name is Bryan Keith Holland. In the future, Brian saw himself as a doctor. Holland was the top math student in his class during high school, and he found it “as addictive as punk rock.” He then attended the University of Southern California where he received a BS in biology and an MS in molecular biology and was a Ph.D. candidate in molecular biology. Holland was awarded a doctorate. Degree in Molecular Biology at the time of the opening of USC.
04) Bruce Dickinson is the lead singer of one of the world’s most successful rock bands, Iron Maiden. At the same time, he is a civil aviation pilot, business angel, entrepreneur, and consultant in the field of creative firm management and business development. In May 2012, he completed a government project: he brought to market Cardiff Aviation, an aircraft maintenance firm providing 1,500 jobs in Wales.
05) Tarja Turunen (Nightwish). For the first time the girl sang for the public at the age of 3: in the Kitee church she sang the classic Lutheran hymn “Vom Himmel Hoch, da Komm ich her”, in the Finnish interpretation called “Enkeli taivaan”. After that, Tarja began to sing in the church choir, and from the age of 6, she began to learn to play the piano. After completing her schooling, Tarja studied at the Savonlinna Secondary School of Music, after which she left for Kuopio to continue her studies at the Sibelius Academy.
06) Tom Morello graduated from Harvard University 87 with a BA in Political Science. This should come as no surprise, as he was the guitarist for one of the most politically vocal and active bands of all time, Rage Against the Machine. For Morello, music, and activism have always been intertwined, and he saw music as a tool that can be used for moral and political progress.
07) Milo Auckerman (Descendents) received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Southern California. Milo has two loves: genetics and punk rock. Throughout his career, the performer has smoothly balanced between punk and science. He used music to escape the boredom of the lab and lab, to escape the chaotic lifestyle of music.
08) Sterling Morrison, the guitarist for The Velvet Underground, also received his Ph.D. in medieval literature from the University of Texas in 1986. This return to education was inspired by Velvet’s bitter breakup.
09) Rivers Cuomo graduated from Harvard University in 2008 with a BA in English. Burned out by the success of his band Weezer, Cuomo decided to relax by enrolling in one of the most prestigious schools in the country.
10) Greg Graffin Most of the professors play golf in their spare time, and Greg Graffin sings for one of the most influential punk bands of all time. Greg Graffin is a UCLA professor and vocalist for Bad Religion. According to Graffin, science is related to punk rock. Not wanting to stop there, in 1990 he received his Ph.D. from Cornell University. Greg defended his doctoral dissertation in zoology on “Monism, Atheism and the Naturalistic View: Perspectives for Evolutionary Biology.” The work is mostly devoted to evolutionary biology, but it contains research on the history and philosophy of science. In these areas, Greg works at the University of California.
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