20 Worst Pre-Rock Star Jobs

From: http://spinner.com

Sure, they're rolling in the dough now, but some of your favorite artists paid their dues in some of the worst jobs imaginable. Spinner counts down the 20 musicians who have gone from rags (and hairnets and shovels and rollerskates) to riches.

20.

Kellie Pickler: Roller-Skating Waitress

Before she served up a taste of country on 'American Idol,' this North Carolina native served burgers on wheels at a Sonic drive-thru in her hometown of Albemarle.

19.
Jack White: Furniture Upholstery Apprentice

After working as a teenager at an upholstery shop in his hometown of Detroit, the White Stripes and Raconteurs frontman started his own one-man business, called Third Man Upholstery. His slogan was "Your furniture's not dead."

18.
Sting: Tax Man

While pursuing a music career, Sting, under his civilian name of Gordon Sumner, had what he calls a "soul-destroying day job" as a tax officer with the Inland Revenue in Manchester, England. He also worked as a bus conductor and construction laborer before becoming a teacher.

17.
Kelly Clarkson: Energy Drink Promoter

The original American Idol went from bar to bar in the Fort Worth, Texas, area, hawking Red Bull. She also had stints as a cocktail waitress, Six Flags performer, vacuum cleaner saleswoman and telemarketer.

16.
Elvis Presley: Truck Driver


After high-school graduation, the future King drove a truck for the aptly named Crown Electric Company in Memphis and planned to further his career there, taking night classes to become an electrician.







15.
Madonna: Doughnut Slinger

As a struggling dancer in New York City, Her Madgesty worked behind the counter at a Dunkin' Donuts in Times Square. She was reportedly fired for squirting jelly on a customer.

14.
Brandon Flowers: Hotel Bellhop

The Killers frontman didn't always have a killer job: He used to make ends meet by schlepping bags for the high rollers at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

13.
Macy Gray: McServer

The R&B singer might not agree with her place on this list, as she appeared in a 2005 television commercial for the fast-food giant, saying, "The action, the fun, the people, the sense of accomplishment ... it truly was my first big break!" (Other divas who worked under the golden arches: Pink, Faith Hill and Shania Twain.)

12.
Elvis Costello: Data Entry Clerk

A struggling musician by night, the legendary songwriter walked through the red doors of Elizabeth Arden by day, where he worked as a computer operator. He immortalized the job in his song 'I'm Not Angry,' in which he refers to the London-based cosmetics company as the "vanity factory."







11.
James Brown: Pool Ball Racker

He was "the hardest-working man" even pre-show business! Brown grew up in Augusta, Ga., during the Great Depression, taking on several odd jobs to earn money, including shining shoes, washing cars, picking cotton and racking pool balls in local bars.

10.
Beth Orton: Pizza Parlor Waitress

Merry Ol' England has its drawbacks like any other country, but having to live in a trailer park and work at a Pizza Hut aren't usually among them. Londoner Beth Orton -- God love her -- did both.

9.
Johnny Cash: Cotton Picker

Don't believe the lyrics to the late country icon's song 'I Never Picked Cotton.' Cash and his parents worked the cotton fields in northeast Arkansas during the Depression.

8.
Snoop Dogg: Bag Boy

While simultaneously holding down a lucrative job as a drug dealer, the rapper was asking customers, "Paper or plastic?" at a grocery store in his native Long Beach, Calif.

7.
Rod Stewart: Grave Digger

After playing semi-pro soccer, Rod the Mod abandoned his athletic dreams to work with the dead. He dug graves at London's Highgate Graveyard but laid down his shovel after just a few weeks.

6.
Martina McBride: Concert T-Shirt Seller

The country beauty went on tour long before she started singing professionally. That is, on tour with Garth Brooks as his traveling T-shirt saleswoman -- hearing 'Friends in Low Places' night after night after night ...

5.
Tony Iommi: Sheet Metal Factory Worker

Yep, one of the pioneers of heavy metal actually used to work with heavy metal. The Black Sabbath guitarist lost parts of two fingers in an accident at a factory in Birmingham, England, on the very day he was scheduled to leave his job for good.

4.
Gwen Stefani: Floor Scrubber

The Hollaback Girl's very first job was mopping floors at a Dairy Queen near her home in Fullerton, Calif. She eventually left to work at a department store before joining her brother's band, No Doubt.

3.
David Lee Roth: Hospital Orderly

Long before Van Halen, the not-yet-Diamond Dave fluffed pillows and emptied bedpans in a hospital. It's a career field he almost went back to post-stardom -- in 2004, Roth started training to become a paramedic.

2.
Jonathan Davis: Funeral Home Embalmer

After studying mortuary sciences, the future Korn frontman found work as an embalmer in a funeral home in Shafter, Calif. He continued to see dead people in his next job as an assistant in the Kern County Coroner's Department.

1.
Chubby Checker: Chicken Plucker

Before he was twisting, the rock 'n' roll legend was plucking. As a teenager, the man born Ernest Evans tore the feathers off dead chickens at the Fresh Farm Poultry Market in Philadelphia, where his boss gave him the nickname "Chubby" and occasionally let him sing to customers over the loudspeaker.