Jazz legend Jack DeJohnette's mother wrote the lyrics for the blues tune "Stormy Monday". I was actually at the Smithsonian Jazz Oral history lecture when he told this story. "...So my mother Jeanette used to write poetry and she actually was the original composer of “Stormy Monday,” and she wrote that. Now, we knew T-Bone Walker. She sold it to T-Bone Walker for 50 bucks."
Mayte Garcia attended the same high school in Wiesbaden, Germany when she met Prince that Priscilla Beaulieu attended when she met Elvis.
David Bowie wrote the original lyrics to My Way which were rejected. It was then given to Paul Anka to have a go.
Rod Argent was the original lead vocalist in The Zombies but gave the position to Colin Blunstone when they realized what s great voice he had. Argent did continue to sing occasional songs however including much of their third album put together after the band had broken up.
Ronnie James Dio used to sing Doo-Wop! DREAM EVIL: THE EVOLUTION OF RONNIE JAMES DIO – Green and Black Music
Along the same lines as Ryan Adams/Bryan Adams, I found this kind of surprising, singer Kurt Vile sounds like he was parodying German legend Kurt Weill's name, but it is actually his real birth name - Kurt Vile - Wikipedia
Country singer George Jones led a pretty wild life, even from the day he was born - when he was being delivered from his mom, the doctor dropped him and broke his arm!! George Jones - Wikipedia
Another George Jones one - when his wife denied him the keys to the car so he couldn't buy alcohol, he took the family riding lawn mower and drove 5 mph on the freeway to the liquor store! From Wikipedia, "There, gleaming in the glow, was that ten-horsepower rotary engine under a seat. A key glistening in the ignition. I imagine the top speed for that old mower was five miles per hour. It might have taken an hour and a half or more for me to get to the liquor store, but get there I did." Apparently it also happened again while he was married to Tammy Wynette, From Wikipedia, "she woke up at one o'clock in the morning to find her husband gone: "I got into the car and drove to the nearest bar 10 miles away. When I pulled into the parking lot there sat our rider-mower right by the entrance. He'd driven that mower right down a main highway... He looked up and saw me and said, ‘Well, fellas, here she is now. My little wife, I told you she'd come after me.’"
After Peter Gabriel left Genesis, David Cassidy (of The Partridge Family) was considered to replace him. Britta Phillps, who voiced Bloberta Puppington on the series Moral Orel, was the singing voice of Jem on the animated series Jem & The Holograms.
Britta Phillps, who voiced Bloberta Puppington on the series Moral Orel, was the singing voice of Jem on the animated series Jem & The Holograms.[/QUOTE] LOL, what the fudge???
It was mentioned in Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into Music on Page #147 in the article "The Replacements." The article also mentions that Jeff Lynne (of ELO) also auditioned as Gabriel's replacement in Genesis. The book contains a massive amount of interesting music trivia. Including: The last song Bing Crosby sang was "Strangers In The Night." (Page #182)
Simon and Garfunkel once opened for Zappa and the Mothers as Tom and Jerry, and then came back after the Mother's performance for an encore of The Sounds of Silence.
Just found out this one from the Rhino "Nuggets" liner notes, The Standells ("Dirty Water", "Good Guys Don't Wear Plaid" , etc.) originally didn't want to do rock because they thought it would ruin their career as supper club musicians!! Also, the lead singer Gary Tamblyn is the brother of actor Russ Tamblyn ("West Side Story", etc.)
If you want more George and Tammy anecdotes like these, you should check out their two episodes of Mike Judge's semi-animated music series Tales From the Tour Bus. How Jones made it into his 80's, I have no idea.
My favorite music trivia (from an interview with Dan Fogelberg): Don Henley and Dan Fogelberg had dinner one evening (in Colorado, I believe) in 1976, and Henley supposedly asked Fogelberg, if he might consider becoming a member of the Eagles. However, Fogelberg had visions/huge ambitions for himself and subsequently released his first masterpiece, 1977's Nether Lands.
That's a scary one. I love the Eagles, and musically Dan would have been a fine fit but I can't imagine him being allowed much of a songwriting voice. You've only got to hear the last few Timothy B. Schmit solo records to see how far under the bushel Don & Glenn pushed his light.