Kevin Nash (wrestler)

Everyone who's ever watched wrestling knows who Kevin Nash is. He's tall, with blonde-ish hair and looks more like he'd be comfortable riding a motorcycle than wrestling. There's more to this person that meets the eye.

Birth name: Kevin Scott Nash

DOB: 07/09/1959

Where: Detroit, Michigan

Trivia

-He's the kind of person who can find humor in any situation

-He is a lifelong equal rights advocate for human rights. This is something his father instilled in him at a young age as they both watched Martin Luther King Jr. give his "I Have a Dream" speech on TV

-Kevin played for the Tennesse Volunteers basketball team for a short while. It ended when Kevin and his coach, Don DeVoe, got into a fight after DeVoe grabbed Nash's jersey. He then went into the US Army after seeing the film Stripes with Bill Murray. Surprisingly, Nash managed to get top-secret clearance. After being honorably discharged, he played basketball in Europe for a time until a horrible knee injury ended that. Soon, he was going down another path in sports-professional wrestling

-He was known for his long hair, which went far down his back. It was left uncut since his days with WCW and helped embrace his "Big Sexy" nickname

-In reality, he's 6'10''. WCW exaggerated his height by saying he was 7'

-For the 1991 film Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret of the Ooze, he was offered the part and accepted the part of the villain because he was the only one who could manage to wear the heavy costume

-He was offered the role of Sabretooth in the 2000 film X-Men, but couldn't take it due to conflicts with scheduling

-During his final reign as WCW Champion, he lost to Booker Huffman aka "Booker T"

-Lost the WWF Championship to Bret "The Hitman" Hart at Survivor Series 1995

-He won the WWF title the first time against Bob Backlund

-His son, Tristen Nash, was born in 1996

-In August 2003, he lost a "hair match" to Chris Jericho. This resulted in Nash's hair being cut. His hair had not been cut since 1993, when he was with WWF

-He had cut his hair extremely short for his role as The Russian in the 2004 film The Punisher. WWE worked it into a story, stating that he had lost his hair in a "Hair vs. Hair" match against Chris Jericho on the 08/18/2003 episode of WWE Raw

-During filming for The Punisher, actor Thomas Jane accidentally stabbed him. Nash didn't even notice it until someone told him he was bleeding

-He is a former member of nWo Outsiders and Wolfpac

-He had plans of returning to WWF as his old character Diesel and had even planned on dying his hair black. But by the time he did this, his hair turned gray

-Despite retiring for good in 2004, he will make the occasional tag team appearance with fellow wrestler Scott Hall, aka "Razor Ramon"

-His previous managers include: fellow wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, Shawn Michaels, Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, Pamela Anderson, Kevin Sullivan aka "Merlin the Wizard", Ted DiBiase and Torrie Wilson

-He and tag team partner Scott Hall were beat by the tag team of Shinya Hashimoto and MMA fighter Naoya Ogawa

Naoya Ogawa

Shinya Hashimoto

-When he was a senior in high school, he was ranked #2 best-prep basketball player in Michigan. The first was Earvin "Magic" Johnson

-It's thought that the ratings for WCW started falling after the infamous "Fingerpoke of Doom" match between Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan on Jan. 4, 1999. Nash was the WCW World Champion at the time. When the match began, Hogan poked Nash on the chest and he fell. Hogan pinned him down and he won.

-He was considered for the role of Little John in the 2010 film Robin Hood

Mick Jagger Responds to Paul McCartney's Claim of Rolling Stones being a "blues cover band"

It was only natural for The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to be "rivals" back during the 1960s. Both bands came from similar backgrounds and did similar types of music. But it couldn't be farther from the truth. Often times, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards would often seek the advice and wisdom from Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Both bands even had it worked out to where, if say, The Beatles had a song ready to go and The Rolling Stones were still working on one, one band would say "Ours is ready, so we'll go ahead and set it out and you take your time to finish" or vice versa. Now it seems that the rivalry is becoming real.

On a recent article Paul McCartney had been in, he'd made a comment about The Rolling Stones. It was only a matter of time before Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger would be asked for his opinion.

According to McCartney, in an article with The New York Times, "I'm not sure I should say it, but they're a blues cover band, that's sort of what the Stones are. I think our net was cast a bit wider than theirs."

Jagger predated this type of questioning during a concert recently in Los Angeles. "There are so many celebrities here tonight. Megan Fox is here, she's lovely. Leonardo DiCaprio, Lady Gaga, Kirk Douglas - misread that one. And Paul McCartney is here; he's going to help; he's going to join us in a blues cover later on."

The decades-long rivalry, thought to have never even occurred, had arisen in 2020 during an interview with Howard Stern that Paul McCartney was doing. "Their stuff's rooted in blues. When they're writing stuff, it has to do with the blues. Whereas we had a little more influences. There's a lot of differences. I love The Stones, but I'm with you. The Beatles were better."

Jagger kindly described McCartney as a "sweetheart". He responded by mentioning "There's obviously no competition! The big difference...sort of slightly seriously, is that The Rolling Stones have been a big concert band in other decades and other eras when The Beatles never even did an arena tour [like] Madison Square Garden with a decent sound system. They broke up before that business started, the touring business for real.

Triple H (wrestler)

Paul Levesque, aka "Triple H" is a wrestler with WWE. He and fellow WWE member Shawn Michaels still remain friends to this day. Triple H had gotten his iconic name from the "angle" (wrestling terminology for character or some such thing) of being a rich playboy named Hunter Hearst Helmsley or Triple H

Birth name: Paul Michael Levesque

DOB: 7/29/1969

Where: Nashua, New Hampshire

Trivia

-He is a co-founder of D-Generation X

-He's the executive vice president, COO (chief operating officer) and Global Talent Strategy & Development person for WWE

-He is a huge fan of Motorhead. And because of this, any time he enters the ring, his theme is always a Motorhead song. "The Game" when coming out to wrestle. "Line in the Sand" when coming out to the ring with Dave Bautista and Randy Orton as "Evolution", "King of Kings" when coming out as COO of WWE, in a suit, with or without Stephanie McMahon, his wife.

-His other passion, besides wrestling, is bodybuilding. Which is why, even at 48, he's still in incredible shape, as if he could just pick up where he left off and wrestle again

-He and Shawn Michaels both work together on the program WWE NXT, which finds the next round of WWE superstar wrestlers, both male and female.

-His return to WWE Raw came on 1/7/2002 after recovering from an injury that involved his left quadriceps muscle being completely torn from the bone

-In 2000, he retired "Mankind" wrestler Mick Foley in a PPV No Way Out "Hell in a Cell" match

-He was part of a tag team with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

-In March 2003, he gave a press conference explaining the inspiration for his character Triple H. He said it reflects the many backstabbings and politics of the world he works in

-During a 1998 WCW event, he "invaded" with his fellow D-Generation X members X-Pac, "Road Dogg" Jesse James, "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn, Chyna

-He was the fourth wrestler to appear in a Marvel movie. The others include: Randy Savage (Spider-Man), Tyler Mane (X-Men), Kevin Nash (The Punisher)

-While wrestling in WCW, his stage name was Terra Ryzing

-Defeated Shawn Michaels in June 2004 at at 45 minute long "Hell in a Cell" match at WWE Bad Blood

-He was schooled in wrestling by legend Walter "Killer" Kowalski

-His father was his best man at his wedding to Stephanie McMahon

-Prior to even wrestling for the same company, he and Bill Goldberg had tension with each other

-He won the WrestleMania 2000 as a "heel" (bad guy), breaking the tradition of "babyface" (good guy) wrestlers winning the match

-In addition to his father in law, Vince McMahon, Triple H paid for fellow wrestler Sean Waltman (X-Pac) to enter rehab

-His WWE debut was in 1995. His angle (in-ring persona) was that of a rich aristocrat named Hunter Hearst Helmsley and was pushed to be a wrestler known as "The Connecticut Blueblood"

-During his time with WCW, he was known as Jean Paul LeVesque, who was known as a jobber (losing matches fairly). He chose the name Jean Paul as a way of honoring his French ancestry and spoke with a strong French accent. His time with WCW only lasted a year.

-Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley are just two of the people who managed Triple H. Other previous managers include Rick Rude, Ric Flair, Curt Hennig, Chyna, Mr. Hughes, Shawn Michaels, Sable

-In June 2006, he reformed D-Generation X

-While using the ring name Terra Ryzing, he started using the inverted Indian Deathlock as his finishing move

-He is a highly talented artist and has designed his own logos and t-shirts

-When it was learned that actor Jack Nicholson would be inducting Ric Flair into the WWE Hall of Fame, Triple H gunned hard for himself to induct Ric Flair for two reasons. 1.) He wanted to induct him and 2.) he feared that those in attendance would only be there to see Nicholson and not the people being honored on that night

-After filming his role in Blade: Trinity (2004), New Line offered him a deal of three films, but he declined

-At a 2013 Extreme Rules match, he suffered a concussion at the hands of Brock Lesnar, who used Levesque's own sledgehammer against him. That following Monday night, he blacked out at the start of that night's match, suffering from what doctors call "Post Concussion Syndrome". At that point, he made the decision to no longer compete in matches

-He pays tribute to old-school wrestlers by wearing medical tape on both of his hands, fingers, wrists

-His fascination with wrestling started like many future wrestlers-by watching wrestling on TV as a kid. He then started taking up bodybuilding at age 14

-In high school, he was an athlete. He played baseball and basketball. He was introduced to the world of professional wrestling by Walter "Killer" Kowalski while working at Gold's Gym

-In 2002, Triple H was part of a controversial story on WWE. The October 21, 2002 episode of Monday Night Raw seen wrestler Kane defending the Tag Team Championship on his own after Triple H attacked a wrestler known as The Hurricane backstage. Triple H said he knew of a secret that Kane had. He asked if the name "Katie Vick" meant anything to Kane. It sure did. That following week, on Raw, Kane revealed who she was. Katie Vick was a high school friend of his who had been too intoxicated to drive home. Kane did the duties of a good friend and drove her home. He was unfamiliar with how to drive a stick shift car and when an animal ran out into the road, he swerved to avoid it and crashed. The crash killed Vick on impact. Triple H insinuated that Kane was drunk as well and said that while Kane loved Katie, she didn't return those feelings. Triple H even suggested that Kane had sexual intercourse with Katie. The following week, Triple H was seen wearing a Kane mask standing over a mannequin in a coffin, who was supposed to be Vick. That month, stocks in WWE were the lowest they'd been in years

Shawn Michaels (wrestler)

Everyone knows Shawn Michaels as "The Heartbreak Kid". People know him for doing a sort of Chippendales-style striptease act before wrestling. Most of all, they know him as being the bitter rival of Canadian pro wrestler Bret "The Hitman" Hart and being part of the famed "Montreal Screwjob". But, there are many sides to this person, as there are to all people. What you see is not necessarily what you get with him.

Birth name: Michael Shawn Hickenbottom

DOB: 07/22/1965

Where: Phoenix, Arizona

Trivia

-He was trained by Jose Lothario, a wrestling legend

-He started training in Kansas, where he met his future tag team partner Marty Jannetty. A year later, the AWA contacted him after he sent them videos and they suggested he team up with Jannetty again. They became known as "The Midnight Rockers" because of their habit of staying out past midnight. Their entrance theme was "Living After Midnight" by Judas Priest. Because of their raucous, rowdy habits, they earned a bad reputation. The tag team was hired by WWE CEO Vince McMahon, but they were fired after an incident at a bar in Buffalo, New York

-He won the first 60 minute "Iron Man Match" against Bret Hart at WrestleMania XII

-Was involved in the famous "Montreal Screwjob" at Survivor Series '97 in Montreal. Bret Hart refused to lose in front of his Canadian fans and lose their respect. It's been said that Michaels worked with referee Earl Hebner and Vince McMahon, who were both listed as being involved in addition to Triple H and Shawn McMahon. This list of conspirators worked together to strip Bret Hart of the title because Hart refused to lose the respect of his Canadian fans. It was engineered that Michaels would perform Bret's own signature move, the sharpshooter, against him and when Bret was down, the bell rung and Michaels declared the winner

-He wrestled his first match in over 4 years on 08/25/2002. It was Summer Slam at Nassau Collisseum in New York. His opponent was fellow wrestler and friend Triple H. He defeated his opponent in a pin-fall move in a non-sanctioned match. When the match ended, Triple H attacked Michaels by hitting him in the head and lower back with a sledgehammer

-In 1998, at the Royal Rumble, his opponent was The Undertaker. It was a casket match for the WWE title. Michaels hit the casket with his back, which would lead to his retirement. He stayed out of wrestling for years until WrestleMania 14, where he would wrestle his last match in close to four years

-In high school, Michaels and a friend of his, Kenny Kent, decided their act in their school's talent show would be a 30 minute wrestling bout. They won second place and Michaels notes it's hard to win against cheerleaders

-His interest in professional wrestling began at age 12 when he watched it on TV. Later on, he and his friends would practice wrestling moves in their swimming pool

-He was one of the few wrestlers who never made the switch from WWE to WCW. He stayed with WWE for 17 years

-NWA/TNA wrestler Michael Shane (now known as Matt Bentley) is a cousin of his

-With his father being in the Air Force, he and his family were forced to move constantly. The family finally settled in San Antonio, Texas when he was a teenager

-He is the youngest of four children. He has a sister named Shari and brothers Scott and Randy. His mother hoped he would be born a girl

-Michaels is an officially licensed and ordained Pentecostal Minister

-Things between Jannetty and Michaels had been rough since Michaels went into singles matches. He patched things up between him and Jannetty in 2004. He baptized Jannetty, who later became a Christian

-Michaels is listed as the inspiration/reason for becoming a wrestler by wrestlers Edge, Christian, Chris Jericho, Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy

-At the March 26, 2010 WrestleMania 26, he was retired by The Undertaker

-Despite his birth name being Michael Shawn Hickenbottom, he's always gone by Shawn because doesn't like the name Michael.

-He gives his son Cameron credit for being the one to get him off drugs. He says that his son seen him passed out on the sofa. Michaels recalls crying like a baby in the bathroom later knowing his son was aware of the clearly bad state of mind

-He defeated Dave "Davey Boy" Smith aka "The British Bulldog" at the Saturday Night Main Event in October 1992

-His drug addiction began in 1986, when, as a 20 year old wrestling rookie, he was in Las Vegas and won $750 on a slot machine. Later on, that money went towards cocaine, which he tried for the first time. This would lead to a nearly debilitating drug problem

-He and Bret Hart patched things up in 2010 when they met on air and shook hands, thus ending the bitter feud between the two

-In 2004, he was in a No Disqualification match against Kane. He injured his eye after taking a nasty hit to the head. The hit damaged his retina. At the time, the injury wasn't considered severe enough to warrant taking time off work. But, as time progressed, it became more noticeable. As a result of the detached retina he now has, he now suffers from amblyopia, better known as simply lazy eye. People nowadays call it "the Shawn Michaels lazy eye".

Ronnie Wood recalls last hospital visit with Charlie Watts

Ronnie Wood, guitarist for The Rolling Stones, was always seemingly, the one closest to Charlie. Not only because their birthdays were within a day of each other, but for additional reasons. One of them being that Charlie championed for Ronnie to get the same amount of pay as the other members of The Stones after he'd been with them for a while, no longer a new member of the band. After Charlie passed, Ronnie reflected on spending time with Charlie prior to his death.

Ronnie said he was the final member of The Rolling Stones to speak with the band's drummer, who was hospitalized in London. It was the same room Ronnie had been in while he fought cancer in 2020. Ronnie jokingly said "We call it the Rolling Stones suite" in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

In the same interview, he added "We watched horse racing on TV and just shot the breeze. I could tell he was pretty tired and fed up with the whole deal. He said 'I was really hoping to be out of here by now', then after that there was a complication or two and I wasn't allowed back. No one was."

Mick Jagger talked about having Steve Jordan on drums and the healing effect of the Stones continuing their No Filter tour.

In an interview with Apple 1 Music host Zane Lowe, Jagger revealed "Some people said 'Oh, Charlie died, and you should not have done the tour - and stopped'. And other people would think 'The thing about the Rolling Stones throughout their career has been their resilience in the face of adversity'. And we've had our ups and downs, mostly ups, to be honest -but we've had adversity. And this was probably one of the most difficult ones."

Meanwhile, in a Vanity Fair interview, Steve Jordan had his say on the matter. "There are people that don't understand that I lost a friend. So they're happy for me, but they don't understand that I'd rather not have this be the case. But the Rolling Stones have really, really, done everything in their power to make the transition smooth and sympathetic and empathetic. They've been cognizant of everyone's feelings. I personally appreciate that."

10 80s Metal Videos Considered Stupid by Today's Standards

For starters, we all know metal has come a long way. Gone are the Aqua Net-jacked hair, spandex, girlie makeup and neon clothes. Each metal band has an identity of its own. And certainly videos have come a long way as well. Here are ten videos that were considered cool in the 1980s but stupid today.

Thor - Anger (1983)

-Prior to blonde Aussie Chris Hemsworth taking on the role of the Norse god of thunder was the band Thor. The only Thor the world knew about was a heavily muscled bodybuilder-turned-heavy metal vocalist who could blow up hot water bottles until they blew. This video is straight Conan the Barbarian rip-off. There are kids dressed as hobbits running through the woods, sword fights with only half the effort, as if the people duelling aren't even trying, a guy in a fake beard pretending to be a Merlin-like wizard stroking a crystal ball in a manner that borders on erotic. It's even worse when the man who produced the video posted it on YouTube under the heading "The Worst Music Video Ever Made". It takes a lot of guts to be the director of a video to say that.

Candlemass - Bewitched (1986)

-Jonas Akerlund has gone down in metal history as the man behind the Metallica videos, Madonna videos and more. His break into music videos came thanks to a bordering on hilarious, low-cost video for doom metallers Candlemass. It starts out showing a heavyset Swedish man in a monk's cowl and hair that looks like a Brillo scrub pad busting out of a coffin and ending with a spot of dancing that would earn him a spot on the British program Strictly Come Dancing. A little bonus here is that future Mayhem singer Dead makes a cameo as one of the headbangers

Queensryche - Queen of the Reich (1985)

-Some say this is a thinking person's metal band. The video for this is Doctor Who meets Star Wars. It shows a "heroic" heavy metal band taking on villainesses clad in bikinis while being assaulted by rubber monsters so fake even they would have been thrown off the Star Trek set. Somehow, the band had high success after this

Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King (1987)

-1987 seen these power metal legends standing on a dark cliff. It was for their video "Hall of the Mountain King". The video showed a little person in a bald wig and gnome prosthetics wandering through an underground cave network looking for treasure. It makes you almost think this video was Dungeons & Dragons brought to life. The prize for completing this dangerous quest? A copy, on cassette, of Savatage's new album

Yngwie J Malmsteen - I'll See the Light Tonight (1985)

-It seems like the 80s were just jam packed with wizards, gnomes and other magical, mythical creatures. Ronnie James Dio would have been like a kid at Christmas with all of that. The promo for Swedish axe slinger Yngwie Malmsteen and his 1985 single "I'll See the Light Tonight" shows a wizard, gnome and more including an obviously paper mache dragon poking its head out of a pool. Not to mention the singer has hair that has seen better days

Nitro - Freight Train (1989)

-Talk about bad. A guitar with four necks that would baffle even an octopus. Voices that could shatter wine glasses. Some say grunge couldn't come fast enough.

Krokus - Screaming in the Night (1983)

-This video is horrible in every meaning of the word. The video consists of the band and their girlfriends getting kidnapped by angry tribesmen of unknown origin, the singer getting thrown into a coffin and locked away in a pyramid and to add to the insanity, a trap door opening and the singer coming out in a cafe walking over people's food. That couldn't be more horrible if it tried

Judas Priest - Hot Rocking (1981)

-You definitely didn't expect Judas Priest to have a real stinker of a video on here. How it got airplay on MTV is anyone's guess. It was partly a homo-erotic soft core porn movie mixed with a public safety announcement on the dangers of pyrotechnics. You could literally catch fire, as Rob Halford actually did

Samson - Biceps of Steel (1980)

-Prior to becoming known forever as Iron Maiden's vocalist and the nickname "The Air Raid Siren", Bruce Dickinson was treading the beer-sticky floors of pubs with his prior band Samson. Julian Temple, a famed director of videos, directed the video for the above-named song. The video shows tattooed bouncers fighting with a roadie in a bad wig and then having his hair cut off by a seductive woman a la the story of Samson and Delilah from The Bible. Luckily, Maiden never made any questionable videos.

Virgin Steele - Perfect Mansions (Mountains of the Sun) (2012)

-While this is not an 80s video, it's said this one is a real head scratcher. This video was filmed in 2011 for a reissue of an album by Long Island, New York metallers Virgin Steele that had debuted in 1988. It appears to have been shot in the afternoon on a 1990s-era video recorder. There's so much going on here: the cliche of middle aged dudes in too much black and leather rocking out; the not so needed jumps between random locations (a beach, a forest, someone's living room); a giant sword in the ground for no reason; The only thing stopping it from being the greatest metal video ever is no person pretending to be a gnome or wizard

19 Rockstars Who Worked Regular Jobs Before Hitting It Big

Everyone has to start working somewhere, even the big name rockers. Here are 19 rockstars who, according to Kerrang! magazine, worked regular jobs before the music bug bit them.

Jonathan Davis, Korn

-Embalmer's/coroner's assistant

-He told Kerrang! in an interview that he initially got into the job because he was into horror movies and dark s---. "Little did I know that that s--- would f--- me up for a long time. I saw some really f---ed up s---...I had post traumatic stress from seeing dead babies."

Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath

-Sheet metal worker

-This could only be described as "ironic". The city in which Tony hails from is extensively steeped in metal, no pun intended. So it's fair to say there are a lot of steelworks and steel foundries. Tony found work in one of them. It's been said that him losing the tip of his two middle fingers in an industrial accident when he was 16 and having to use prosthetic thimbles helped shape the dark sound Sabbath is known for. He said he only used light gauge strings because it made it easier and less painful for him to play

Kevin Wasserman aka "Noodles", The Offspring

-School janitor

-When The Offspring's 1994 album Smash debuted, the band's lead guitarist was working as a janitor at the Earl Warren school in Anaheim. "I took a three year leave of absence. I was still working there when we blowing up 'cause I'd promised my boss I wouldn't quit until the end of the school year." he said in an interview with Kerrang!

Kurt Cobain, Nirvana

-School janitor

-In the video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit", there is a dancing janitor. This refers to the fact that, like The Offspring's lead guitarist, Kurt Cobain worked as a school janitor

Dani Winter-Bates, Bury Tomorrow

-NHS operations manager

-Despite the fact that Bury Tomorrow is self-sufficient, Dani still works his job of operations manager for the NHS (National Health System) in the UK. He even does it remotely on tour because he's passionate about it. "The rest of the band have Bury Tomorrow as their main career, but I do it because I love working for the NHS and I'm massively interested in public healthcare." he said in an interview with this magazine.

Bon Scott, AC/DC

-Postman

-It's hard to imagine, but the former AC/DC front man did work as a postman. He also worked other jobs, including bartender and truck packer. He mainly delivered mail in his home town of Fremantle, Western Australia

Lemmy Kilmister, Motorhead

-Roadie

-It's hard to imagine this iconic metal legend working as a roadie. But, it's not as hard to imagine as you would think. He got his inspiration for "We Are the Road Crew" from his time and experience lugging gear around for 60s rocker Jimi Hendrix

Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath

-Slaughterhouse employee

-A lot of people like to give Ozzy flak for this, saying that in his book I Am Ozzy, he must have enjoyed the work too much or something to that effect. He, most likely, regarded this as just a job that brought money in. A lot of people definitely didn't know that a slaughterhouse in Digbeth employed Ozzy for a time after he was let go from a factory in Birmingham making car horns.

Chris Cornell, Soundgarden

-Fish handler

-Prior to establishing that "Seattle sound" band Soundgarden, frontman Chris Cornell worked as a fish handler for a seafood company. In an interview with this magazine, he revealed "My job was to wipe up the slime and throw away the fish guts."

Zakk Wylde, Black Label Society

-Gas pump attendant

-Something you don't see too much of anymore. While playing in local bands, hoping against hope for a big break, Zakk worked as a gas pump attendant. During this job, he heard Ozzy had been searching for guitarists. He sent in a demo tape of his playing to Ozzy and the rest is history. This is almost cliched fairy tale of rags to riches. Only in Zakk's case, it went from gas-scented coveralls to riches

Tom Araya, Slayer

-Respiratory therapist

-Prior to forming the legendary thrash band, in the 1980s Araya worked as a respiratory therapist. He sunk his paychecks into the funding for the band's debut album Show No Mercy.

Peter Steele, Type O Negative

-Parks and recreation

-He once said that his days of working his way up from park maintenance to park supervisor were among the happiest days of his life. Who could blame him? Plenty of fresh air, sunshine? What could be better than that?

Steve Harris, Iron Maiden

-Architectural draughtman/street sweeper

-Like all the guys in Iron Maiden, who all had day jobs to help keep the band behind "Up the Irons" bring in money, bassist/founding member/primary lyricist Steve Harris worked as a street sweeper. He went from working as a architectural draughtsman, where he created the iconic Iron Maiden logo during working hours, to working as a street sweeper, anything to keep money floating in to keep the band afloat until Maiden could hit it big

Maynard James Keenan, Tool

-US Army

-Prior to forming the band known as Tool, he served four years in the US Army. In an interview, he revealed "It's a strange phenomenon for me when people think there is a complete division between that warrior spirit and actual artist spirit."

Mark Morton, Lamb of God

-Restoration roofer

-Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton worked as a slate and copper restoration roofer in Richmond, Virginia before hitting it big with Lamb of God. "I took a lot of pride in my work and it's what paid my bills as I was coming up through the ranks with the band" he told Kerrang! in an interview

Devin Townsend

-Guitar instructor

-This guitarist, often described as a "mad scientist", had worked as a guitar instructor prior to playing guitar professionally. He's held down plenty of jobs, including dish washer and working with sheet metal fabrication. He says that having to dissect music to teach guitar in a formulaic fashion is the absolute worst

Rob Zombie

-Bike messenger

-Who would have thought that someone like Rob Zombie, whose very own concert goers come donned in zombie makeup and gas masks, would have worked as a bike messenger? He says that his least favorite job was working as a bike messenger. Of all places, it was in New York City, a city jam packed with so many other bike messengers, cars, trucks, vans, semis, buses and more. "It's the worst job anyone could have, I got hit by cars so many times" he said in an interview with Louder Noise

Serj Tankian, System of a Down

-Software company owner

-Prior to forming the band System of a Down, Serj Tankian was the owner of a company called Propriety Vertical Industry Modular Accounting Software, which provided machine coding