The life of mega-famous rock stars has got to get tedious after a while. Drug-fueled backstage orgies with supermodels undoubtedly begin to grate on a person's nerves after a few years, and it makes sense that some famous musicians long to escape that fast-paced lifestyle.
A lot of famous musicians use their wealth in predictable ways, like spending it on fancy cars, and buying castles and slaves. However, many have opened non-music related businesses on the side, just in case 1950s critics were right, and that "rock and roll thing" turns out to be a fad, or if their second giant money room needs filling.
A few of those rockers have even turned to ventures involving the natural world, and the animals that interest them. That's why...
4. Roger Daltrey Owns a Trout Farm When not filling stadiums as the front man of The Who (who play Toyota Center April 29), Roger Daltrey is an avid fisherman. That's why decades ago the rock legend designed and created a trout farm in Dorset, England, which he owned for almost 30 years. Daltrey has been quoted as saying that "When I go fishing, I come away feeling like I've smoked half a dozen joints," which in the language of rock stars means that he enjoys fishing a lot.
Despite selling millions of records and being voted by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the top 100 rock vocalists of all time, Daltrey considers his four-lake, 20-acre trout fishery to be the "proudest achievement of his life," making one wonder if The Who was always just a day job he used to fund his passion for trout farming.
If Daltrey had written most of "Tommy" instead of Pete Townsend, the rock opera about a deaf, dumb, and blind kid that plays pinball might have had the main character casting a fishing rod instead. Come to think of it, Daltrey's iconic fringed leather vest from his Woodstock performance kind of looks like some fishing lures.
Coincidence? No, probably not. It should be noted that any Who completists would also have to hunt down a copy of The Underwater World of Trout Vol. 1, which has the rock superstar dispensing wisdom on fishing for the creatures he so obviously loves.
3. Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson Is a Salmon Farmer It turns out that besides being one of the few stars to bring the "Rock Flute" into heavy use, Ian Anderson also long ago invested in salmon farming as a way to fund the upkeep on a summer house. His timing was perfect, as the industry was just beginning, and after 20 years, the venture has become the UK's biggest independent smoked-salmon firm, employing more than 400 people.
Anderson claims that salmon farming is similar to rock and roll since both involve "a bit of theatricality," but unless that means he dresses his salmon in little stage costumes, I'm going to assume that he is hitting the same six-joint regimen that Roger Daltrey recommends for fishing. No one could argue that Jethro Tull was an unsuccessful band, but with their heyday long passed, it's likely that Anderson makes more money from salmon farming these days than from touring behind "Aqualung."
These two Brits don't have a stranglehold on fish-related side gigs, though.
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