Entertainment Facts About Music

None of the Beatles knew how to read music. (Paul McCartney eventually taught himself.)

Elvis Presley got a 'C' in his eighth grade music class.

Jon Bon Jovi runs two restaurants in New Jersey called JBJ Soul Kitchen with no prices on the menu. Guests pay whatever they can, volunteer for an hour, or simply eat — no questions asked. Everyone gets the same chef-prepared meal in the same dining room. The idea is to fight food insecurity with dignity, not charity.

Eddie Cochran recorded 'Three Steps to Heaven' just weeks before his fatal car crash in 1960. Released posthumously, it became a #1 hit in the UK.

Eminem repeated the 9th grade three times.

During an interview when Adele was asked about her weight and figure, she replied “I don’t make music for eyes. I make music for ears”.

Queen is the only band in which every member has composed more than one UK #1 single, and all four members were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003.

In Montreal, there's a seasonal art installation called '21 Balançoires' featuring swings that play musical notes when you swing on them—and the music only harmonizes when strangers swing together.

Hugh Laurie played TV's Dr. House for eight years. Off camera, he was chasing something real: a life as a blues musician. He recruited New Orleans legends Dr. John and Irma Thomas for his debut album, Let Them Talk. It hit No. 1 on Billboard's Blues Albums chart. Two years later, his follow-up, Didn't It Rain, did it again. The TV doctor now has two No. 1 blues albums.

Eminem's mother sued him for $10 million in defamation over one line in "My Name Is." A judge ruled in her favor — for $25,000. Her lawyer took $23,354.25 in fees. She walked away with exactly $1,645.75.

Jeff Goldblum has played jazz piano nearly every week in Los Angeles for 30 years. He and his band, the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, started the gig in the 1990s, mostly unadvertised. His debut album, The Capitol Studios Sessions, hit number one on the Billboard jazz chart in 2018. As a teenager in Pittsburgh, he cold-called cocktail lounges from the Yellow Pages for gigs. The Jurassic Park star is a genuine jazz musician.

Eminem won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2003 for "Lose Yourself" - the first rap song ever to win that award. He wasn't there. He was asleep in Detroit because his daughter Hailie had school early the next morning. He slept through history.

Beyonce submitted Cowboy Carter to the 2024 CMAs. The country establishment gave her zero nominations. She took the album on tour anyway, grossing over $400 million - the highest-grossing country tour in history - and Forbes declared her the fifth musician ever to become a billionaire.

George Michael spent decades secretly giving away millions - and almost nobody knew until he died in 2016. He paid a stranger's £15,000 IVF bill after seeing her cry on Deal or No Deal, and donated £100,000 every Easter to charity via anonymous phone-ins. The woman he helped named her son Seth George in his honour.

Dexter Holland, lead singer of The Offspring ("Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)"), was deep into a PhD in molecular biology when the band exploded with their 1994 album Smash. He paused the doctorate for nearly two decades. In 2017, he finished it - his 175-page thesis on microRNA in HIV earned him a doctorate from USC.

Steve Martin has won more Grammy Awards for playing the banjo than for being funny. The comedy legend picked up two Grammys for his 1970s stand-up albums, including "A Wild and Crazy Guy." His music has earned him three more Grammys. That includes a recording with Earl Scruggs and his solo album "The Crow." Steve Martin has won more Grammys for music than for comedy, three to two.

Dolly Parton wrote a secret song in 2015. She sealed it inside a time capsule at Dollywood. A CD player was built in so it could still play. It won't open until 2045. Her team joked she might not be around by then. She laughed and said she might make it to 99. On August 25, 2026, at 80, Dolly died. The song is still locked away, waiting.

Rita Wilson is best known as an actress, and as Tom Hanks's wife. She is also a real singer-songwriter, and released her sixth studio album this year. Sound of a Woman was recorded in Nashville with producer Dave Cobb. Her first record came out fourteen years ago. She played small clubs like City Winery this summer, and plays Napa in December. She is still the one singing every note of it.

Elijah Wood, Frodo himself, has spent more than a decade as a working DJ. He and his friend Zach Cowie play all-vinyl sets in small clubs, bringing crates of records from their own collections and never a laptop. At one sold-out show the crowd turned up in cloaks and pointed ears, and Wood opened with "We have no plan." They are still playing out of those crates.

A completely silent song on Spotify called "Sleepify" earned a band over $20,000 in royalties before being removed. Fans played it on repeat overnight while sleeping to support the band Vulfpeck, who used the money to fund a free tour.