Musicians coming from middle class or high classes

hello i need examples for a text of musicians coming from middle class or higher classes of the society, mainly in europe? have you go names? isn't brian eno one of them??
thank you by advance!!

 

All of Pink Floyd were very middle class, what?

 

Brian Eno didn't come from the 'higher classes' of society. The terms 'middle class' and 'higher class' are pretty difficult to determine.

 

If you want to list musicians from middle class backgrounds prepare for the longest thread in internet history!

 

The Genesis lads (Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford, Phillips) were from fairly well off families, and went to the esteemed Charterhouse public school in England. (Collins and Hackett who joined later were not.)

 

are you sure, because i thought many were coming from working class no??

 

I remember a snarky appraisal of Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" going something like, Rock and Roll is so democratic that even rich people can do it.

 

Define working class and middle class. It's even possible that most musicians are from middle class backgrounds - I would say that was certainly true of musicians in the UK in 2020.

 

I would think private school/public school would be an important marker, perhaps more so in the UK.

Oddly, those two words -- public and private -- have the exact opposite meanings in the US and UK in reference to schools, so adjust accordingly . . .

 

I would say someone like Carly Simon (of Simon & Schuster fame) and a band mostly comprising of Old Carthusians qualify as coming from the higher echelons of society!

 

Mike Bloomfield was American but he came from a very wealthy family. Alas, he still struggled with personal demons that ultimately took him down at an early age.

 

Not really, here in the UK both Public and Private schools are fee paying otherwise school for the majority is just school, paid for from taxes.

 

Gram Parsons
David Crosby
James Taylor
Yoko Ono
Mick Jagger
Jakob Dylan
Julian Lennon
Sean Lennon
Zak Starkey
Wilson Phillips
Nancy Sinatra
Ravi Coltrane

 

I wonder what percentage of forum members are middle class or upper class?

 

As explained above, neither of these identifiers designates a state school over here.

State school - Wikipedia

 

Well, Gram Parsons was the grandson of a citrus fruit magnate (in fact, here’s a Wiki Page on the dude himself:John A. Snively - Wikipedia )

Lowell George was the son of furrier Willard George, who supplied fur to the top film studios as well as stars like Lucille Ball and Rita Hayworth.

Henry Vestine from Canned Heat (and a one time Mother like Lowell, funny enough) was the son of geophysicist Ernest Vestine.

And since we already named two Mothers, how bout Mother Superior himself, who was the son of a chemist and mathmatition who worked in the defense industry.

And I have to mention Jagger and Jones from the Stones.

 

Florian Schneider-Esleben of Kraftwerk, for sure, and I don't exactly know Ralf Hütter's background but one of the things you always hear about Kraftwerk is that Ralf and Florian came from wealthy families.

 

I expect quite a high percentage as music is not a cheap hobby and we all have a decent amount of leisure time

 

The guys in Phish are from pretty privileged backgrounds.

 

Why does it matter what background an artist has/had?

 

It doesn't matter. It's not where you're from, but where you're at/what you're like.

It only matters when people from less well-off backgrounds are prevented from accessing the same opportunities.

At least, that's my take.

 

Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel? Weren't the Clash a bit posher than they seemed?

 

I susect from the 80s on more and more musicians were from more privileged backgrounds as barriers to entry became higher

 

Can you share what the differences are, then? For years the British public/private thing threw me and I hate to think I've had it all wrong again!

In the US, we have have public schools, which are the standard-issue, publicly-funded schools most attend.

Private schools are usually religiously affiliated and are supported by tuition and their churches. But these are often attended by middle class kids whose parents are trying to improve their child's education with little concern for the religious baggage.

And then there are expensive, non-religious private boarding schools that are often referred to as academies or prep schools, where the rich send their kids.

 

Laura Marling - her father is Sir Charles William Somerset Marling (5th Baronet).