Not all rock stars lead a gilded life, and many of our favorite musicians and singers have had to endure some shocking personal issues, especially physical or mental disabilities. A recent online post discusses some of these fascinating artists.
1. Jason Becker
“Jason Becker has had ALS since 1989 but still makes compositions using his eyes,” shares the first poster. Anyone who played metal guitar in the ’80s and ’90s will remember this genius. Sadly, Becker’s guitar-playing career ended very quickly after he contracted ALS. Nevertheless, Becker is still a prolific musician to this day.
2. Django Reinhardt
“Oh, please mention Django Reinhardt, a pretty famous jazz guitar player from early 1900s Belgium.” This Belgium-born, Romani gypsy-raised country jazz guitarist lost his fourth and fifth fingers in a home fire, though he was just as dextrous as most other guitarists with just two fingers.
3. Tony Iommi
The Black Sabbath legend lost the tips of his fingers in a sheet metal factory — on his last day on the job! Inspired by the great Django Reinhardt, Iommi pursued his guitar dream, and the rest is history. “His disability caused him to have to detune his guitar, helping to create that killer metal sound,” reveals a metalhead. Ironically, considering heavy metal’s origins came from those same fingers, maybe we should be thankful for Tony Iommi’s disaster.
4. Jeff Healey
I first discovered Jeff Healey in his small — yet key — role as a redneck bar musician in the cult classic Patrick Swayze movie, Roadhouse. His memorable talent stemmed from his ax-wielding genius — Healey’s inverted lap-based electric guitar style stood out. Sadly, the blues virtuoso died at age 41 of lung cancer.
5. Andrea Bocelli
The Italian tenor was born with debilitating congenital glaucoma; then, at 12 years, he succumbed to total blindness. However, this didn’t stop the talented singer from taking Italy, then the world, by storm. Bocellis has recorded 15 albums, won countless awards, and even had part of the Venetian coastline named after him.
6. Roy Orbison
Contrary to popular belief, the Texan rock crooner was not blind, though he suffered from poor eyesight along with all his siblings. His penchant for wearing sunglasses led to the rumor. However, Orbison’s biggest hurdle was the profound misery he survived during one particular episode when he was Johnny Cash’s neighbor in Tennessee. In 1966, wife Claudette died in a motorbike accident; then, while touring Britain in 1968, his house burned down, and he lost two of his three sons.
7. Rick Allen
The Def Leppard drummer became the band’s most famous member following a tragic car accident in England when the band was already well known. His left-hand drive Corvette crashed into some dry stone walling following a game of cat and mouse on a country road. Thankfully for Allen, his bandmates’ first words when visiting him in hospital were: “When are you coming back to work?”
8. Ian Dury
Ian Dury and the Blockheads had a short run of well-loved new wave rock hits, including “Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick.” Dury contracted polio at the height of the epidemic in 1949, at only seven years old. This episode forced him to spend six weeks in a full plaster cast before discovering his left leg and arm had withered. The singer went on to write dozens of songs over his brief but colorful music career, often mocking his disability and, in turn, society’s treatment of the afflicted.
9. Ian Curtis
From one British Ian to another one, this time Joy Division’s enigmatic frontman, Ian Curtis. The band now known as New Order used to be much different, featuring legendary frontman Ian Curtis, who had epilepsy and subsequent depression. The singer is famous for dancing himself into epileptic seizures on stage. “A lot of people who suffer from depression and epilepsy are often in a cause-and-effect situation,” explains a fan.
10. Lewis Capaldi
The young British singer has won many hearts over the last few years with his down-to-earth appeal and jovial personality. However, this year, the singer-songwriter revealed a Tourette’s syndrome diagnosis, which cut his Glastonbury set short, though this didn’t faze fans. “It’s really great to see that on some nights if his Tourettes gets the best of him, his fans help him sing the songs,” remarks a commenter.
11. Pete Townshend
The Who’s iconic, guitar-smashing lead guitarist is one of the most influential characters from the British ’60s and ’70s. However, he hasn’t had the easiest of journeys. “Pete Townshend of The Who is partially deaf from chronic tinnitus,” adds a rock music fan. “He’s been talking about it since the Eighties.” However, Townshend wasn’t born with this issue; he blames drummer Keith Moon’s infamous dynamite stunt on American television.
Source: Reddit.
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Get ready to dive into a world of luxury, laughter, and extravagant antics. We’re taking you on a whirlwind tour of ten sidesplitting lightweight comedies that revolve around the lives of the exceptionally wealthy. Having a lot of money can lead to plenty of absurd situations, and where there’s absurdity, there’s hilarity. From Crazy Rich Asians to Ruthless People, these ten films about rich people are perfect for a hilarious light viewing that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
10 Hilarious Lightweight Comedies About Rich People
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10 TV Shows People Wish They Could Watch for the First Time Again
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If you haven’t seen these movies, what are you waiting for? You won’t find any hidden gems on this list; you may have already seen most of them. If there are any on this list that you still need to see, bump them up your watchlist. These are bucket-list movies you can’t possibly justify leaving unwatched.
This article was initially published and syndicated by The Cents of Money.
