History OneOfUs / MusicalFreaks

* Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}: All band members are enormous fans of Afro-American {{Blues}} musicians. They covered a lot of the songs of these artists and brought them under the attention of their own rock lovin' audience. Even their band name was inspired by the line ''like a rolling stone'' from Music/MuddyWaters' "Mannish Boy". When Waters died in 1984 they send a laurel wreath to the funeral.

* Joe Walsh, guitarist of the Music/{{Eagles}}, is an avid ham radio operator, going by the handle of [=WB6ACU=] and using a lot of vintage equipment bought from eBay. In one instance, he delayed a concert just to be able to get a winning bid on radio equipment.

* Music/{{Motorhead}}: Lemmy was a huge fan of early 1950s and 1960s rock 'n' roll, especially Music/TheBeatles. He was also quite a history buff and had extensive knowledge in the military history of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and collected uniforms, weapons, medals, insignia and other stuff from that era. He also went on record saying that even though he self-identified as an anarchist and expressed being against "Nazism, Communism, and other extremes," he collected Nazi relics because he thought they "had some of the coolest stuff".
* Music/AliceInChains former frontman Layne Staley was a huge gamer. It's been said that he always kept his Gameboy on him and played it whenever he had the chance. One of the last known photos of him also saw him wearing a Metal Gear Solid shirt, and he himself once boasted in an interview that he maxed out his first credit card buying video games at a Toys R' Us, while his condo had a ''gigantic'' TV that he used exclusively for gaming and had an entire room devoted to storage for his collection. Additionally, he spent a good deal of his final recording session talking with the studio runner about various games on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation that was hooked up in the studio and giving him tips on how to beat certain parts that were giving him problems.

** And [[https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/cyidt2/my_leroy_smith_from_tekken_7_cosplay/ cosplayed Leroy Smith]] from Tekken 7]].

* Later in life, Music/LouReed was a huge [[UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh Apple]] fanboy.

* Neil Peart of Music/{{Rush|Band}} at least used to be, if the songs ''Rivendell'' and ''The Necromancer'' are any indication.

* Music/KurtCobain listened to many alternative rock bands before Music/{{Nirvana}} became famous and made it his duty to give these groups a shout-out now and then, so that they got more attention from the mainstream. Among the bands and artists he liked were Music/ThePixies (Cobain: "Without them Nirvana wouldn't exist."), Music/LedZeppelin, Music/TheBeatles, Music/DanielJohnston, Music/PJHarvey, Music/TheStooges, Music/SexPistols (The title of ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' is a homage to ''Music/NeverMindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols''), Music/TheShaggs, Music/TheBreeders, Music/TheVaselines, Music/BadBrains, Music/TheRaincoats, Music/SonicYouth, Music/{{Boredoms}}, Music/{{Swans}}, Music/{{Kleenex}}, Music/TheSlits, Music/LeadBelly, Music/{{Mudhoney}}, Music/BeatHappening, Music/ButtholeSurfers, Music/PublicImageLtd, Music/DavidBowie, Wipers, Music/MazzyStar, Music/ShonenKnife, Music/{{Diesel}} [[note]] The Dutch band, not the other bands by that name. Cobain said in an interview that if he really had to do just straight rock, he'd do it like "Sausalito Summernight" by the aforementioned Music/{{Diesel}} [[/note]]...

** The Beatles grew up with ''Radio/TheGoonShow'' and all loved the work of Creator/PeterSellers and Creator/SpikeMilligan. In fact, they hired George Martin as their musical arranger and producer because of his work on the Goons' comedy albums. Similarly, Richard Lester was hired as director for their first two features ''A Hard Day's Night'' and ''Help!'' because he had directed some comedy shorts starring the Goon members.

* Music/{{Madonna}} calls Music/PattiSmith, Music/{{Blondie}}, Music/LedZeppelin, Music/TheSupremes, Music/{{Carpenters}}, and Music/DavidBowie her prime influences. She also adores Creator/BetteDavis, Creator/CaroleLombard, Creator/MarleneDietrich, Creator/RitaHayworth, Creator/MarilynMonroe and Creator/KatharineHepburn, Music/MyleneFarmer as well as the art of Creator/FridaKahlo, Creator/TamaraDeLempicka and Creator/AndyWarhol. Creator/SylviaPlath is her favorite author. In terms of dancers she admires Creator/MarthaGraham and Creator/RudolfNureyev.

* Music/KurtCobain listened to many alternative rock bands before Music/{{Nirvana}} became famous and made it his duty to give these groups a shout-out now and then, so that they got more attention from the mainstream. Among the bands and artists he liked were Music/ThePixies (Cobain: "Without them Nirvana wouldn't exist."), Music/LedZeppelin, Music/TheBeatles, Music/DanielJohnston, Music/PJHarvey, Music/TheStooges, Music/SexPistols (The title of ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' is a homage to ''Music/NeverMindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols''), Music/TheShaggs, Music/TheBreeders, Music/TheVaselines, Music/BadBrains, Music/TheRaincoats, Music/SonicYouth, ''Boredoms,'' Music/{{Swans}}, Music/{{Kleenex}}, Music/TheSlits, Music/LeadBelly, Music/{{Mudhoney}}, Music/BeatHappening, Music/ButtholeSurfers, Music/PublicImageLtd, Music/DavidBowie, ''Wipers,'' Music/MazzyStar, Music/ShonenKnife, Music/{{Diesel}} [[note]] The Dutch band, not the other bands by that name. Cobain said in an interview that if he really had to do just straight rock, he'd do it like "Sausalito Summernight" by the aforementioned Music/{{Diesel}} [[/note]]...

** Music/{{Queen}} was once known as the "best-educated band in rock", with each member holding a college diploma. To elaborate: in addition to Brian's studies in astrophysics, bass player John Deacon holds a degree in electrical engineering (which he famously applied to build a practice amp for Brian out of an old speaker and odd bits of trashed circuitry), Roger Taylor studied dentistry, and Freddie had a background in art, which he applied to the band when he designed the Queen crest (appears on several of their '70s albums, but probably best displayed on the covers for ''Music/ANightAtTheOpera'' and ''Music/ADayAtTheRaces'' (by the way: both titles are references to Creator/TheMarxBrothers films, which again shows off their geekiness.)

* [[Music/{{Megadeth}} Dave Mustaine]] is a big fan of Franchise/ThePunisher, and has written several songs ("Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "Psychotron") about the character. He also once admitted to buying a [=PlayStation=] just so he could play the Punisher video game.

* Frank Ocean is an avid gamer; track titles from his first mixtape include ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur]]'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''[[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 GoldenEye]]''. The mixtape itself opens with a track called "[[Franchise/StreetFighter Streetfighter]]", which even contains the menu selection music, and his first studio album opened to the sounds of a UsefulNotes/PlayStation booting up.

* Music/KurtCobain listened to many alternative rock bands before Music/{{Nirvana}} became famous and made it his duty to give these groups a shout-out now and then, so that they got more attention from the mainstream. Among the bands and artists he liked were Music/ThePixies (Cobain: "Without them Nirvana wouldn't exist."), Music/LedZeppelin, Music/TheBeatles, Music/DanielJohnston, Music/PJHarvey, Music/TheStooges, Music/SexPistols (The title of ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' is a homage to ''Music/NeverMindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols''), Music/TheShaggs, Music/TheBreeders, Music/TheVaselines, Music/BadBrains, Music/TheRaincoats, Music/SonicYouth, ''Boredoms,'' Music/{{Swans}}, Music/{{Kleenex}}, Music/TheSlits, Music/LeadBelly, Music/{{Mudhoney}}, Music/BeatHappening, Music/ButtholeSurfers, Music/PublicImageLtd, Music/DavidBowie, ''Wipers,'' Music/MazzyStar, Music/ShonenKnife,
Music/{{Diesel}} [[note]] The Dutch band, not the other bands by that name. Cobain said in an interview that if he really had to do just straight rock, he'd do it like "Sausalito Summernight" by the aforementioned Music/{{Diesel}} [[/note]]...

Music/{{Diesel}} [[note]] The Dutch band, not the other bands by that name. Cobain said in an interview that if he really had to do just straight rock, he'd do it like "Sausalito Summernight" by the aforementioned Music/{{Diesel}}...

* Music/KurtCobain listened to many alternative rock bands before Music/{{Nirvana}} became famous and made it his duty to give these groups a shout-out now and then, so that they got more attention from the mainstream. Among the bands and artists he liked were Music/ThePixies (Cobain: "Without them Nirvana wouldn't exist."), Music/LedZeppelin, Music/TheBeatles, Music/DanielJohnston, Music/PJHarvey, Music/TheStooges, Music/SexPistols (The title of ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' is a homage to ''Music/NeverMindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols''), Music/TheShaggs, Music/TheBreeders, Music/TheVaselines, Music/BadBrains, Music/TheRaincoats, Music/SonicYouth, ''Boredoms,'' Music/{{Swans}}, Music/{{Kleenex}}, Music/TheSlits, Music/LeadBelly, Music/{{Mudhoney}}, Music/BeatHappening, Music/ButtholeSurfers, Music/PublicImageLtd, Music/DavidBowie, ''Wipers,'' Music/MazzyStar, Music/ShonenKnife...

* Sunny of Music/GirlsGeneration used to play Starcraft, and her fellow group member (and leader) Taeyeon watches ''Anime/AttackOnTitan''.

** He was also a fan of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' in the 1990s and was even a composer for ''Sonic 3''. While it's currently unknown if his music actually made it into the finished product, it's worth noting that many fans noticed similarities between his songs and the music of ''Sonic 3'' before his involvement was officially confirmed.

** While we're on the subject of Fiasco, he has dropped lines that reference Excalibur, ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'', ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'', ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'', ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', Myth/RobinHood, Spider-Man (in the same verse)... his to-be-released song Army Girl samples a remixed ''Street Fighter'' track. There's even a picture of him dressed as Darth Vader (minus the helmet, plus a gold watch). Just look up "Darth Fiasco".

* Underground rapper Charles Hamilton is an absolutely ''massive'' ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' fanboy, to the point where he regularly wears Sonic paraphernalia, he's created an alter ego for himself called Sonic the Hamilton, and he's devised an entire philosophy around the character.

* [[Music/{{Space}} Tommy Scott]] collects sci-fi movie figurines and shops at Forbidden Planet. His bandmate Franny Griffiths is an avid gamer - he once stated that the best present he'd ever received from a fan is a ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' game, and he's also into ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' and ''Pro Evolution Soccer''.

* Geoff Wigington of Music/{{Waterparks}} loves Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda, Franchise/{{Pokemon}}, and Creator/{{Nintendo}} in general, he's also been seen wearing Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog and Franchise/KingdomHearts merch. During a Kerrang Reader Interview, when they were asked about their chances of beating the ex-bassists in the "Gloom Boys" video, Geoff gave us this gem when the band was in the process of answering: "If you're confident you can boost your stats at least 10 points in a fight." Must be a StatusBuff. He even goes to conventions!

* Music/JohnLegend is a longtime fan of ''Website/{{Neopets}}'', becoming the brand ambassador for the site's revival in 2023.

* Frank Ocean is an avid gamer; track titles from his first mixtape include ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur]]'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''[[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 GoldenEye]]''. The mixtape itself opens with a track called "[[VideoGame/StreetFighter Streetfighter]]", which even contains the menu selection music, and his first studio album opened to the sounds of a UsefulNotes/PlayStation booting up.

* The OverlyLongTitle of Music/TheOrb's groundbreaking dance single "A Huge Ever-Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From the Centre of the Ultraworld" is actually a fairly literal description of the ''Series/BlakesSeven'' episode "Ultraworld".

* Music/GustavHolst loved Creator/ThomasHardy and his work ''Egdon Heath'' is a musical adaptation of the eponymous fictitious location in ''Literature/TheReturnOfTheNative''.

* Music/SunRa admired Fletcher Henderson and cited Music/FryderykChopin, Music/SergeiRachmaninoff, Music/ArnoldSchoenberg and Music/DmitriShostakovich as his favorite composers. He was very interested in mystic literature, among the occult books by Madame Blavatsky and Henry Dumas, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Alexander Hislop's "The Two Babylons", "The Book Of Oahspe", Afro-American folklore and Egyptian culture. He also had an interest in Creator/WaltDisney movies and covered "Pink Elephant On Parade" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'' on the multi-artist compilation ''Music/StayAwake''.

** Zappa was also a big fan of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'', ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', which he watched religiously during the final years of his life. He voiced the Pope in a ''Ren and Stimpy'' episode called "Powdered Toast Man" and wanted to guest star in ''The Simpsons'' too, but became too ill to record his part.

* Music/YoshikiHayashi likes fashion, Music/{{KISS}}, HeavyMetal, Korean pop, ''Manga/OnePiece'', ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', and ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''.

* Despite being cheesy and ham-fistedly religious enough to seem like the second coming of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxC-Otl6fHM Carman]], Christian rapper KJ-52 could almost be considered a {{Nerdcore}} emcee due to his ProudToBeAGeek status and references to old school video games, ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' and other decidedly nerdy things.

** The King of Pop was also endeared by classical music, especially Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky, Music/AaronCopland, and Music/LudwigVanBeethoven. He also admired the paintings and sculptings of Creator/MichelangeloBuonarroti.

* Fellow Music/BlackSabbath member Geezer Butler studied as an accountant which proved to be of practical use which resulted in him managing the band's finances in the early days. Geezer is also an avowed football fan, and is a lifelong supporter of the Aston Villa Football Club.

* ''Music/DragonForce'' has videogame effects as a trademark in their music, and have admitted a passion towards videogames. They even named themselves after a videogame.

* Music/OzzyOsbourne is a big Beatles fan. Apparently, he even rescheduled an appearance on Creator/HowardStern's show so that he could meet Music/PaulMcCartney on the day that Paul was going to be on.

* [[Music/{{Megadeth}} Dave Mustaine]] is a big fan of Franchise/ThePunisher, and has written several songs ("Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "Psychotron") about the character. He also once admitted to buying a Playstation just so he could play the Punisher video game.

** Also, John Dolmayan, like Nicholas Cage, purchased an authentic copy of Action Comics #1 at an auction. And not only that, he is, in general, a huge comic books fan and, if Wiki/TheOtherWiki is to be believed, was involved in the founding of a comics publishing company.

* Neil Peart of Music/{{Rush}} at least used to be, if the songs ''Rivendell'' and ''The Necromancer'' are any indication.