Traxan

I've noticed quite a few musicians have left that line of work for one that keeps them on the road: they become pilots. I guess the allure is they get to "tour" and see the world but there's greater job security, no?

So far I got:

Chris DeGarmo, Queensryche (private jets)
Steve Morse, Dixie Dregs. (Commercial pilot, returned to music when he joined Deep Purple in the 90s)
Tim Calvert, Nevermore (private jets, now with SkyWest)
Jesse Landry, In This Moment (just starting out)
Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden (commercial jets, mostly 757s)

Any others?

Ringmaster

Well Gene Simmons from Kiss invented airplanes so I would add him to the list.

bunkaroo

Must be something about thrill seeking. I did not know Calvert and Morse flew too.

statcat

Gary Numan

Rival11

Really? I seriously never knew these dudes were pilots.....must be nice "ya know, I don't feel like being a rockstar anymore - think I'm just going to fly planes for a living...................bastards :lo:

cungar

Hokeyboy

The Cow

David Lee Roth (some kind of helicopters)

cungar

Scary thought

cungar

He didn't invent them but he marketed them to millions using figurines, comic books, t-shirts etc.

islandclaws

John Denver, although that didn't go so well.

SmackDaddy

Alex Lifeson has been a licensed private pilot for over 25 years.

Traxan

I've been a Rush fan forever and never knew that.

/embarrassed

Well not everyone can make a living as a musician, after all. Morse quit when the Dregs broke up, DeGarmo left music in 1998 when it was pretty obvious Queensryche and their style of heavy metal was done, Calvert quit Nevermore on getting married, so presume he promised his wife he'd get a more stable line of work.

Dickinson kind of surprised me since Maiden is so consuming. To maintain skills of a heavy commercial bird you gotta stay practiced. Lucky for Bruce he can continue as a pilot when Maiden call it a day and he does not face mandatory retirement at 60 like in the U.S. A lot of people, including Sully Sullenberger, have criticized this policy because only the U.S. does it.

The Bus

Paul Kantner

Traxan

Elaborate, please. Is it his profession now that he turned away from Starship?

Numanoid

Hell yes. Though he never gave up music (newest album comes out soon), and has actually given up piloting now that he has a family. For a time in the '90s, he was considered to be one of Britain's top aerobatics pilots, rising to the top of the field (doing air shows and historic dogfight recreations). His brother, who was in his band in the '80s, similarly went on to become a commercial pilot. Numan famously attempted an around-the-world flight in the early '80s, which ended when he had to put down in India and was arrested on suspicion of spying because he was wearing two wristwatches.


Sorry, you know I have to jump in when I smell Numan's name mentioned.

Josh-da-man

I was under the impression that Gary Numan only felt safe when traveling by car.

The Bus

Well, he started out with an airplane, then upgraded to a starship. For a while I believe he piloted something called a Parsons Project, which I believe to be some kind of hovercraft.

Traxan

/facepalm

cungar

He just feels safest of all

Dr Mabuse

Mordred

Does Randy Rhoads count?

Traxan

Fuck you, man.

emanon

Hey, at least he spelled "Rhoads" right - which is something many of his self-proclaimed "greatest fans" fail to do.

JumpCutz

RIP Randi Rhodes. My all-time favorite guitarist.