CHERIE CURRIE
Cherie Currie was a bad girl when she fronted the groundbreaking girl band The Runaways back in 1976.
Now 50, Currie is wood carver – who works with a chainsaw.
STING
Cue the guitar intro. With Sting belting out the familiar lines to hits like “Every Breath You Take” and “Roxanne,” The Police were an instant success story. Since forming in 1977, the group has sold more than 50 million albums world wide.
Sting has enjoyed an impressive solo career, and has even produced songs for film and television. The 58-year-old has been a major supporter for world relief events, including Live 8, Live Earth and more recently the Hope for Haiti Now telethon.
DAVID CROSBY
Crosby, Stills & Nash first hit the FM radio airwaves in 1969 with their self-titled debut album. And for David Crosby and his folk rock group, this meant appearing at major music festivals like Woodstock, Monterey Pop and the Altamont Free Concert.
Besides the color of his hair and mustache, not much has changed for Crosby and his band. The trio recently released “Demos,” a new album containing unreleased tracks that were recorded between 1968 and 1971.
NEIL YOUNG
This photo was taken not too long after a 24-year-old Neil Young joined Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969. The addition brought an infamous Woodstock argument, a lifelong quarrel between Young and Stephen Stills, and plenty of folk rock hits.
Young, 64, has directed numerous films under the name Bernard Shakey, including a concert movie, Rust Never Sleeps. The “Heart of Gold” singer currently resides on a 1500-acre ranch in California.
GRACE SLICK
Grace Slick vocal talent landed her membership of bands that included The Great Society and Jefferson Airplane.
The “Somebody to Love” singer, who is now 70, is semi-retired.
BONO
Before his days of international activism, Paul David Hewson, or Bono, and his band went through some name changes (Feedback, The Hype) before settling on U2 in 1976. The Grammy-award winning group has sold more than 150 million records world wide.
Bono, 50, has been a lifelong humanitarian, with projects like Product Red (for AIDS awareness) and DATA (world debt relief). The Irish musician, who has written as a guest columnist for The New York Times, has been previously nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
SLASH
Guns N’ Roses lead guitarist Slash took the electric guitar to new levels, and was often seen on stage with a hand made Gibson Les Paul Copy. The band hit number one in 1988, with “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and Slash’s famous guitar riff and solo.
The 44-year-old was ranked by Time Magazine in 2009 as the second best electric guitar player of all-time (behind Jimi Hendrix). Slash was also on the cover of the “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock” video game, which has the guitar player as a character in “battle mode.”
BON JOVI
Jon Bon Jovi and his namesake band gave fans plenty of anthems to sing to, from their 1986 album “Slipper When Wet.” “You Give Love A Bad Name,” “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “Wanted Dead or Alive” weren’t bad on stage either. Cue the screaming fans.
Over the years, the New Jersey native has appeared on an episode of “Sex and the City,” released two solo albums and won an Academy Award for “Blaze of Glory.” Bon Jovi, 48, and his band have sold more than 120 million albums world wide.
RICHIE SAMBORA
Like the few lucky guitarists of the ’80s, Richie Sambora was blessed with custom made Les Paul models after bursting onto the rock scene with Bon Jovi’s third release “Slippery When Wet.”
The 50-year-old and actress Heather Locklear divorced in 2006 after more than a decade of marriage.
GENE SIMMONS
What didn’t Gene Simmons do on stage? “The Demon” and fellow KISS frontman Paul Stanley were famous for wagging their tongues, setting guitars on fire and elaborate pyrotechnics at their live shows.
Simmons, 60, has been quite the TV personality. His latest, the A&E reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels, is currently in its fifth season.
LINDA RONSTADT
Known as the “First Lady of Rock,” Linda Ronstadt first captured attention with a cover of Mike Nesmith’s “Different Drum” with the folk rock band The Stone Poneys. Her versatile voice made her one of the most successful female singers of her time.
Today, Ronstadt is still a musical innovator who sees no boundaries. The 63-year-old Grammy Award winner mixed roots music with Cajun sounds and early 20th century music in the 2006 album “Adieu False Heart.”
ANNIE LENNOX
Scottish singer Annie Lennox formed the two-person band Eurythmics with Dave Stewart in 1980 when she was 26. Her wistfuly powerful voice and Stewart’s pulsating synthesizer made “Sweet Dreams (are Made of This”) a massive hit in 1984.
At 55, Annie still has the pipes, as she showed on an appearance on an American Idol fundraiser. But she devotes much of her time to humanitarian causes, including AIDS awareness.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
The Boss was in his early 20′s when he signed a record deal with Columbia Records, and released “Greetings from Asbury Park” in 1973. All this, just a few years shy of “Born to Run,” the album that would change Bruce Springsteen’s life forever.
In an elite group of U2 and The Rolling Stones, Springsteen is the third highest grossing musical act in the world. The Boss is set to re-release his fourth studio album, “Darkness On the Edge of Town,” this holiday season, complete with new vocal recordings from the 60-year-old on some songs.
BRET MICHAELS
As the lead singer of Poison, Bret Michaels had it all: the fame, the spotlight and the girl. That is, until his girlfriend Tracy Lewis left him. The breakup led to Michaels writing the power ballad “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” which was released in 1988.
The Rock of Love star has had a hospital-filled year. Following an emergency appendectomy, the 47-year-old survived a brain hemorrhage and it was recently discovered that he has a treatable heart condition. But he hopes to return to the spotlight soon.
Click here for part #1.
Tags: Interesting, Music, Nostalgia
