From musician to pilot
 

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?

Re: From musician to pilot
 

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

Re: From musician to pilot
 

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

Re: From musician to pilot
 

Gary Numan

Re: From musician to pilot
 

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:

Re: From musician to pilot
 

Re: From musician to pilot
 

Re: From musician to pilot
 

David Lee Roth (some kind of helicopters)

Re: From musician to pilot
 

Scary thought

Re: From musician to pilot
 

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

Re: From musician to pilot
 

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

Re: From musician to pilot
 

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

Re: From musician to pilot
 

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.

Re: From musician to pilot
 

Paul Kantner

Re: From musician to pilot
 

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

Re: From musician to pilot
 

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. :lol:


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

Re: From musician to pilot
 

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

Re: From musician to pilot
 

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.

Re: From musician to pilot
 

/facepalm

Re: From musician to pilot
 

He just feels safest of all

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Re: From musician to pilot
 

Does Randy Rhoads count?

Re: From musician to pilot
 

Fuck you, man.

Re: From musician to pilot
 

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

Re: From musician to pilot
 

RIP Randi Rhodes. :sad: My all-time favorite guitarist.