It’s easy to view a life in music as a wholly time-consuming endeavor, what with record production, publicity, touring, interviews, writing sessions, etc, etc. You’d think musicians barely had a minute for themselves, but let’s not forget that they’re still just people. Everyone needs something to keep themselves sane during the general hustle of life, even if that hustle involves pouring sweat on stage while legions of adoring fans rock out in the pit. That’s the whole point of hobbies, after all: something to help us wind down and relax. Personally, I read and collect comic books. (Yeah, I said it). But can you imagine your hard-rock idol spending his evenings off as a philatelist (that’s a stamp collector. #GREprep)? Or a hip-hop icon going home to polish his collection of coffee mugs?
Well, all those things really happen. You’ve got to be a little weird to be a musician, so it’s only logical they’d have equally strange pastimes. We scoured the Internet to find some of music’s oddest hobbyists, and we proudly present them for you here. Now, if you want to surprise your favorite artist with a gift of Nardwuarian accuracy, you’ll know just what to get.
Jack White collects taxidermy
Vanilla Ice collects Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys
Photo via comicbook.com
Lemmy collects Nazi memorabilia
Photo via taringa.net
Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine is a ninja
Red Hot Chili Peppers are really into chess
Photo via zmemusic.com
Phil Collins owns the largest private collection of Alamo artifacts
Slash collects pinball machines
Photo via pinside.com
The Breeders’ Kelley Deal makes knit handbags
Photo via amazon.com
Damon Albarn is really good at ping pong
Coolio has his own cooking show
Pixies’ drummer David Lovering does science magic
New Order drummer Stephen Morris collects tanks
Photo via teknoseru.blogspot.com
Lily Allen embroiders
The Runaways’ Cherie Currie is a chainsaw sculptor
Photo via poplifeart.com
Rod Stewart loves model trains and cities
Photo via bostonglobe.com