Some musicians have been household names for so long that it's hard to imagine what they were like (and what kind of music they were making) before their careers really took off.
We've all seen the footage of Britney Spears on Star Search, Beyoncé singing at a talent show as a child, Halsey singing Blink-182 at the mall, and Harry Styles as a teenaged wedding singer. But there are so many other interesting videos featuring artists in their early days that you may not have come across yet. Below is a collection of videos featuring 6 mega-famous musicians before they became superstars.
1. Björk
Björk has been around a LONG time. She started making music in Iceland at 11 years old and had a series of musical projects in the country since then - but Björk didn't achieve worldwide superstardom until she became... well... Björk!
While a lot of people may have heard of, or seen, The Sugarcubes (a popular band Björk was in during the 80s and 90s), Tappi Tíkarrass was a band that Björk sang in during her teen years - roughly ages 16-18. Check out the teenaged Björk singing below:
Bonus video of Björk wearing socks and sandals while busting out some dance moves onstage. Can you imagine Björk wearing a sweater vest today?
2. LL COOL J
LL Cool J released his critically acclaimed first album, Radio, when he was just 17 years old. But several months before the release of that album, he performed a set alongside DJ Cut Creator to a small gymnasium at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
Not only is it an incredible early performance from a massively successful musician, but it's also set during the relatively early days of hip hop as a genre. You see LL Cool J actually explain to the audience how DJ Cut Creator is using the turntables to make music. He breaks down what "scratching,""rapping," and "beatboxing" are.
The stage presence, talent, and crowd work at 17! Pop stars today could never!
3. U2
Before they were terrorizing our iPods with irremovable albums we didn't ask for, they were just a bunch of teenagers playing on an Irish TV program where a panel discusses whether they're any good! The clip is from 1978 (just 2 years after the band formed) and is very short and grainy, but it's an interesting watch nonetheless:
"All the kids like it!" -something not said about U2 since 1978.
4. Avril Lavigne
Before she inspired the new generation of pop girls to make pop-punk influenced tunes, and before she wrote the legendary saga of the Sk8ter Boi, Ms. Avril Lavigne was just a regular 17-year-old Canadian performing country music covers at a Chapters bookstore in Kingston, Ontario back in 2001:
Skip to the end (4:07) for her cover of "Adia" by Sarah McLachlan for some extra Canadiana.
5. Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against The Machine may be one of the biggest bands of the '90s, and Tom Morello one of the most famous guitarists of our era, but several months before the release of their debut album in 1992 they were performing to a small crowd in a cramped record store in Long Beach, California.
6. Jennifer Lopez
Before the Super Bowl performance, before Bennifer, before Jenny from the Block, and riiight before she scored a gig as a dancer on In Living Color, J.Lo was was a backup dancer for New Kids on the Block during their 1991 American Music Awards performance (featuring Flava Flav - paging Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.![]()
hotties_chicken!)
That's her in the middle with the ponytail at 0:52:
"War Sucks" -Donnie Whalberg, anti-war activist
SOURCES: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11
We've all seen the footage of Britney Spears on Star Search, Beyoncé singing at a talent show as a child, Halsey singing Blink-182 at the mall, and Harry Styles as a teenaged wedding singer. But there are so many other interesting videos featuring artists in their early days that you may not have come across yet. Below is a collection of videos featuring 6 mega-famous musicians before they became superstars.
1. Björk
Björk has been around a LONG time. She started making music in Iceland at 11 years old and had a series of musical projects in the country since then - but Björk didn't achieve worldwide superstardom until she became... well... Björk!
While a lot of people may have heard of, or seen, The Sugarcubes (a popular band Björk was in during the 80s and 90s), Tappi Tíkarrass was a band that Björk sang in during her teen years - roughly ages 16-18. Check out the teenaged Björk singing below:
Bonus video of Björk wearing socks and sandals while busting out some dance moves onstage. Can you imagine Björk wearing a sweater vest today?
2. LL COOL J
LL Cool J released his critically acclaimed first album, Radio, when he was just 17 years old. But several months before the release of that album, he performed a set alongside DJ Cut Creator to a small gymnasium at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
Not only is it an incredible early performance from a massively successful musician, but it's also set during the relatively early days of hip hop as a genre. You see LL Cool J actually explain to the audience how DJ Cut Creator is using the turntables to make music. He breaks down what "scratching,""rapping," and "beatboxing" are.
The stage presence, talent, and crowd work at 17! Pop stars today could never!
3. U2
Before they were terrorizing our iPods with irremovable albums we didn't ask for, they were just a bunch of teenagers playing on an Irish TV program where a panel discusses whether they're any good! The clip is from 1978 (just 2 years after the band formed) and is very short and grainy, but it's an interesting watch nonetheless:
"All the kids like it!" -something not said about U2 since 1978.
4. Avril Lavigne
Before she inspired the new generation of pop girls to make pop-punk influenced tunes, and before she wrote the legendary saga of the Sk8ter Boi, Ms. Avril Lavigne was just a regular 17-year-old Canadian performing country music covers at a Chapters bookstore in Kingston, Ontario back in 2001:
Skip to the end (4:07) for her cover of "Adia" by Sarah McLachlan for some extra Canadiana.
5. Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against The Machine may be one of the biggest bands of the '90s, and Tom Morello one of the most famous guitarists of our era, but several months before the release of their debut album in 1992 they were performing to a small crowd in a cramped record store in Long Beach, California.
6. Jennifer Lopez
Before the Super Bowl performance, before Bennifer, before Jenny from the Block, and riiight before she scored a gig as a dancer on In Living Color, J.Lo was was a backup dancer for New Kids on the Block during their 1991 American Music Awards performance (featuring Flava Flav - paging Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
hotties_chicken!)That's her in the middle with the ponytail at 0:52:
"War Sucks" -Donnie Whalberg, anti-war activist
SOURCES: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11