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10 Musicians Who Overcame Immense Obstacles

10 Musicians Who Overcame Immense Obstacles

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Musicians who make it can seem untouchable – they’ve got fame, money, and talent coming out of their ears. But many of them had to overcome adversity to achieve greatness. These include physical disabilities, difficult circumstances, or personal demons. Check out these 10 musicians who overcame immense obstacles before they could find success, making their careers that much more impressive.

Sources: HuffingtonPost.com, Music.TutsPlus.com, MastersChannel.com, MentalFloss.com, MyMusicianMasterClass.com

Wikimedia.org
Wikimedia.org

Stevie Wonder

After 51 years in the industry and 22 Grammy awards, it’s hard to believe that Stevie Wonder is blind. One of the most decorated artists in history, he’s been blind since birth, the result of premature birth and an excess of oxygen in the incubator. But Wonder has released more than 30 No. 1 hits despite his disability, and has become a cultural icon.

ThisDayinMusic.com
ThisDayinMusic.com

Johnny Cash

Raised by cotton farmers during the Great Depression, Johnny Cash grew up poor. Things got even harder for the Cash family when Johnny’s brother, Jack, died in an accident at the saw mill, meaning even less income was available. Cash ended up joining the military to find a better life, but it didn’t suit. It wasn’t until he married and moved to Memphis that he eventually found success after auditioning for Sun Records. His difficult background was inspiration for many of his songs.

AmazonAWS.com
AmazonAWS.com

Ray Charles

Ray Charles is known as one of the most successful artists in the R&B/jazz/soul/pop/country (seriously, what genre has this guy not mastered?) game, but the talented musician lost his sight by the age of 7 to glaucoma. Before that, he had the misfortune of witnessing the drowning death of his younger brother. Rather than give in, Charles learned to play piano, organ, saxaphone, clarinet, and trumpet. He became one of the most popular performers of the 20th century.

Mirror.co.uk
Mirror.co.uk

Elvis Presley

Like Johnny Cash, Presley grew up in the Depression era with a farm-worker father and sewing machine-operator mother. Times got worse for the Presley family when they decided to move to Memphis in 1946. It wasn’t until Elvis graduated from high school and decided to make a recording as a birthday present for his mother that things began to change. His recording sessions caught the attention of Sam Phillips, who introduced him to guitarist Scotty Moore, and Elvis soon became The King.

MySpaceCDN.com
MySpaceCDN.com

Jay Z

Jay Z grew up in a rough neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, where violence and drugs were commonplace. When he decided to try to make it big as a rapper, every record label he approached rejected him. He ended up making his own label, Roc-A-Fella Records, which has become one of the most successful labels in the industry. It helped turned Jay Z into a millionaire many times over — not to mention the added net worth of his megastar wife, Beyoncé.

Flixster.com
Flixster.com

Coolio

Coolio is remembered for his hit, “Gangsta’s Paradise,” but he had a pretty bumpy road before that. Illiterate until the age of 12, he began to associate with gangs in the Los Angeles area, and eventually ended up broke, homeless, and addicted to crack cocaine. Impressively, Coolio was able to turn it around after a stint in rehab. He spent some time fighting forest fires in California before getting his music career back on track.

Wikimedia.org
Wikimedia.org

Ludwig van Beethoven

It’s hard to imagine a musician striking it big when he can’t even hear, but one of the most influential classical composers of all time did just that. Beethoven began to lose his hearing at the age of 26, and became completely deaf within the 20 years. Despite that, he continued composing and wrote the Ninth Symphony — one of his best known pieces — with little hearing ability at all.

RollingStone.com
RollingStone.com

Jimi Hendrix

Guitar legend Jimi Hendrix was raised by an abusive and neglectful father, often having to resort to stealing from local grocery stores for food. Hendrix didn’t get his first guitar until age 15, at which point he was able to replace the broomstick and one-string ukulele he’d been using. Shortly after, he got into trouble was forced to choose between serving a two-year prison sentence or joining the Army. Hendrix signed up for the armed services, but was discharged after serving only one year. After his service, he began pursuing music full time, and found massive success after he formed The Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966.

EdgeCast.net
EdgeCast.net

Rick Allen (Def Leppard)

Drummer Rick Allen had already found success with Def Leppard when his left arm was severed in a car accident in 1984. Engineers reworked his drum kit and Allen put in countless hours to learn how to play drums with extra foot petals to replace his missing arm. His band mates encouraged him, and Allen was back in full form for their album, “Hysteria,” which sold more than 20 million copies.

UrbanSplatter.com
UrbanSplatter.com

Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr had it rough growing up. His father left when Ringo was 3, and his mother had to move to a poor area of Liverpool, England. A ruptured appendix during his school years put Ringo in a 10-week coma that he almost didn’t survive. Soon after, he spent six months in hospital following a bad fall out of bed. Several years later, Ringo took another hit when he developed pleurisy, sending him in and out of hospital for two years. In 1962, Ringo finally caught a break when John Lennon asked him to join the Beatles to replace their recently fired drummer. Ringo became a member of the most popular band in history.