Everyone has something they are good at. Whether it be speaking a foreign language, drawing exceptionally well or something else. That also extends to rock / metal musicians. In addition to writing exceptionally good music, musicians have additional talents that not everyone knows about. These talents can also transition into passions they have outside of music. According to the people at Ultimate Classic Rock, here are some rockers with additional talents not everyone knows about
Joey Kramer
-Aerosmith
-Coffee creator
-He decided to indulge a passion of his during some down time from Aerosmith. He decided to open a coffee company that sells whole bean, organic coffee. He struck up a partnership with Comfort Foods, who would package, roast and distribute this type of coffee called Rockin' & Roastin' Coffee. This even inspired new coffee shops to be opened under this name as well
Alice Cooper
-Golfer
-After a stint in a healthcare facility for his alcoholism, Alice Cooper turned to golf to keep him from drinking again. He started playing up to 36 holes a day and even wrote a book called Golf Monster: My 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict
Dan Spitz
-Anthrax
-Master Watchmaker
-After two separate times with Anthrax, he joined his family's watchmaking business. He'd first become interested in this unique craft when he visited his grandfather's store in the Catskills region. Dan became a Swiss-certified master watchmaker, who also holds degrees in luxury mechanical watchmaking and micro-mechanical watchmaking. This led to him working as an instructor for the North American branch of the Swiss watch company Chopard
Bob Dylan
-Iron Worker
-In a Rolling Stone interview, Dylan once said "I've been around iron all my life, ever since I was a kid. I was born and raised in iron ore country, where you could breathe it and smell it every day." In his spare time, he makes artwork out of iron pieces
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Bryan Adams
-Photographer
-Back in the early 2000s, Bryan Adams started pursuing a backup career of photographer. The images he takes, of actors, musicians and models have appeared in many places. Some of the best images he's photographed were put together for a 2012 book called Bryan Adams Exposed
Terry Chimes
-The Clash
-Chiropractor
-When Terry Chimes left The Clash, he became interested in the concept of healthy lifestyles. In the 1990s, the drummer then pursued a degree in chiropractic medicine and has, since then, opened a series of chiropractic clinics in and around London
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Jeff "Skunk" Baxter
-The Doobie Brothers
-Missile Defense Expert
-Starting off as a quiet passion, Jeff Baxter has turned this passion into a serious thing. He is now a highly trusted Pentagon consultant. He even appeared on a Congressional Advisory Board regarding missile defense
Eddie Money
-Law Enforcement
-Prior to getting bitten by the music bug, Eddie Money (born Eddie Mahoney), followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by becoming a police officer. He served as a member of the New York Police Department for two years. After Eddie found fame as a musician, his dad never got over the idea of his police officer son becoming a musician. "Can you believe that s---? He thought rock 'n' roll was a fly-by-night job." said Money in a New Times interview
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Creed Bratton
-The Grass Roots
-Actor
-This musician left the band during a period where the band would see many singles hitting the Billboard charts, such as "Let's Live for Today", "Midnight Confessions." He would later find fame playing a character named Creed on the US version of The Office
Bruce Dickinson
-Airline pilot, writer, radio show personality
-When Iron Maiden travels, they do it to the nines. They travel in a customized Boeing 747 they have dubbed Ed Force One, usually featuring their menacing, grinning mascot Eddie. At the controls is a pilot and the band's vocalist Bruce Dickinson. He's a fully registered commercial airline pilot who also owns Cardiff Aviation. He is also a highly skilled fencer, almost to the point of Olympic standards
Jack White
-The White Stripes
-Furniture Upholsterer
-He started out doing upholstery on furniture, and even did this while pursuing a musical career. Even his first band was called The Upholsterers
Ian Anderson
-Jethro Tull
-Food writer
-It can be said that Ian Anderson literally wrote the book on Indian food. He wrote a book called Guide to Choosing Indian Food. He noted that there are "around 8,000 Indian restaurants in the UK, making one such eatery for every 6,000, or so of our total population."
Paul Stanley
-Kiss
-Painter
-He started out painting as a way of dealing with stress when he divorced his first wife, with whom he had his son Evan. He quickly found he enjoyed painting and that it was calming. In one year alone, he raked in $2 million on his artwork. He stated his painting style is inspired by the Abstract Expressionists from the 1940s and 1950s
Leonard Cohen
-Author
-Long before he pursued music, Leonard Cohen was an established author. His first book was a book of poetry called Let Us Compare Mythologies. It dates as far back as 1956. After pursuing music, he returned to writing, publishing books all the way up to 2006's Book of Longing
Marilyn Manson
-Artist
-Who knew that Marilyn Manson could paint? The beautiful watercolors he creates have been seen in the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Center in 2002 as part of an exhibit and another series he called "Genealogies of Pain" hung in Vienna's Kunsthalle Gallery in 2010
Dave Mustaine
-Megadeth
-Taekwondo Master
-During a bad time, he turned to martial arts. He said that taekwondo "helped me to eliminate a bad lifestyle of drug and alcoholism. It helped me to believe inside of myself and find the strength inside of myself that I never knew I possessed." He's served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the World Taekwondo Federation
Jason Newsted
-Metallica
-Painter
-During a period where he was recovering from a shoulder injury, Jason Newsted took up painting. Ever since then, the paintings he comes up with have been part of an exhibition at the Art New York on Pier 94 in Manhattan. He also had an exhibition in Lake Worth, Florida called Rawk: The Art of Jason Newsted
Neil Young
-Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, solo artist
-Inventor
-Neil Young is, by all means, a highly intelligent man. He teamed up with Richard Kughn, a Detroit-based businessman who owns the Lionel Trains company. Together they created a remote control that made operating the model trains easier for those who were handicapped. Neil Young also invented an audio device that creates real train sounds and partnered with an investment firm to buy the Lionel Train Company, when they fell on hard times
Brian May
-Queen
-Astrophysicist
-He earned his PhD in astrophysics in 2007, after a huge break from his initial studies when his music career took off. He has since published books on astrophysics while serving as the Chancellor for the Liverpool John Moores University
Bill Berry
-R.E.M.
-Farmer
-He played drums for R.E.M. from 1980-1997. When he left the band, he bought a farm just outside of Athens, Georgia. He would later join R.E.M. on rare occasions, but he completely distanced himself from the world of music after suffering from a series of aneurysms on stages
Flea
-Red Hot Chili Peppers
-Expert chess player
-During slow periods on tour, Flea would play chess. After a time of playing it, his confidence rose enough to challenge a professional chess player at it. And it was said he was able to hold his own against this professional. This chess game happened during a period in Rio when the band was performing and world famous chess player Magnus Carlsen also happened to be in town
Rod Stewart
-The Young Faces, solo
-Model train enthusiast
-Trains are his thing. He decorated an entire room to look like post-war Manhattan. This room was first shown in Model Railroader Magazine and included intricate replicas of stations for the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads and the skyscrapers nearby. He constructed the majority of this display while on tour in hotel rooms around the world
-A cool side note. My stepdad and his brother Dave were out in L.A. once. They were on vacation and they went to a hobby shop that sold die cast cars of IMSA, Formula 1 and other race cars because they both collect them. The clerk behind the counter told them "You should have been in here yesterday. Rod Stewart was in here." My stepdad and his brother, both of whom are fans of Rod Stewart, had missed seeing him by a day
Sammy Hagar
-Montrose, Van Halen, solo
-Master Distiller
-Called Cabo Wabo Tequila, it was designed originally to be sold at his Cabo Wabo nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He unfortunately had to close that club due to pressures from the local cartels. It became the second biggest selling tequila in the US. Later on, Hagar announced the creation of Sammy's Beach Bar Rum, a small batch product made with Hawaii-grown sugar cane
Billy Corgan
-The Smashing Pumpkins
-Wrestling mogul
-His second career is in wrestling production and talent development. He is a co-founder of Resistance Pro Wrestling, founded in 2011. They run regular matches in Chicago. He left three years later to become a senior producer for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Steve Vai
-Beekeeper
-At his home in Hollywood, he noticed a nearby beehive was keeping his flower garden looking beautiful. That inspired him to take up caring for bees. In an interview, he once said "Honeybees have always seemed beautiful to me. If you look at their faces with those big almond eyes." Moving to the San Fernando Valley only strengthened his interest in beekeeping. He harvests honey and gives it as gifts and charity donations
James Williamson
-The Stooges
-Label executive
-In between gigs with Iggy Pop and The Stooges, guitarist James Williamson found things to keep him busy. He rose through the corporate ranks, quietly of course, to become the vice president of technology standards at Sony. Many people he worked with didn't even know about his days as a guitarist until he rejoined Iggy in 2009
Maynard James Keenan
-Tool
-Vintner (Wine maker)
-He's the owner of Arizona's Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars. Strangely, he comes from an Italian wine making family. This is one passion he very seriously. "Rather than making Metallica or Slayer wines, we're making Pink Floyd wines." He said in an interview
David Lee Roth
-Van Halen
-Fully licensed emergency medical technician
-From 1985-2006, if you needed a ride in an ambulance, and you were a Van Halen fan, you might have thought you died and went to heaven as you look up to see the face of David Lee Roth staring right back at you. No, you were not in heaven. From 1985-2006, David Lee Roth worked as an emergency medical technician. He passed the time working as an EMT during breaks from Van Halen. He took in more than 200 ambulance rides and earned high praise from his supervisors. He also felt wanted to give something back to people when they needed help
Roger Daltrey
-The Who
-Trout farmer
-He has owned the Lakedown Trout Fishery for years, indulging his passion for fishing. He is the designer of the four spring-fed lakes and the facility is 26 acres near the city of Heathfield in East Sussex. Even Trout Fisherman magazine took notice and ran an article about it
Joni Mitchell
-Artist
-Joni Mitchell didn't see herself as a singer-songwriter. In a 1998 interview, she stated "I'm a painter first and a musician second." Later on, she stated "I have always thought of myself as a painter, derailed by circumstance."
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