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4 musicians who started out busking

VIDEO: Jewel performs Hands... not many people know she was a street performer before becoming a star.

September 17, 2015

Kyle Cowan Less than a minute

BUSKING, the age-old practice of street performance is not limited to music only and in some cities one can even see entire acts on the sidewalks.

Many see street performers as vagrants, when in reality these musicians, actors and dancers just enjoy showing their passion to the world.

Here are four super rich and famous folks who started at the bottom:

Tracy Chapman
While at university Tracy Chapman played her guitar and sang in Harvard square. A fellow student introduced her to his father, who owned a record label. She eventually ended up meeting her producer and in 1987, right after graduation, she was signed by a major record label. A year later, she had a critically acclaimed album under her belt and was performing all around the world

BB King – the blues legend started out jamming on the streets of Mississippi as a young boy. He eventually wound up in Memphis where he picked and strummed his way into the blues history books

Jewel – This Alaskan singer-songwriter had barely finished her first semester at a fine arts school in Michigan when she packed up and travelled all over the USA as a street performer. She only knew four chords, but eventually became good enough for a record deal with Atlantic Records

Rod Stewart
The Rock Master himself started out on the streets of London. Together with English folk musician Wizz Jones he travelled throughout Europe playing music and sleeping under bridges. It worked out for a while until Stewart was deported from Spain for vagrancy. His career eventually took off, selling 100 million records worldwide

Also read: WATCH: Busker serenades shoppers in Richards Bay

September 17, 2015

Kyle Cowan Less than a minute