Teachers Turned Rock Stars
Teachers often get a bad rap from rock-and-roll, dating back to �School Days� by Chuck Berry on through �School�s Out� by Alice Cooper, �Another Brick in the Wall� by Pink Floyd, and both hit versions of �Smokin� in the Boys Room� by Brownsville Station and Mötley Cr�e.
But what happens when the instructor in front of the classroom is actually a rock star? In some cases, they�re up-and-comers who teach by day and jam by night; in others, they�re established figures who return to school to share their unique knowledge.
So with school back in session, here�s a salute to ten major musicians who (at least) once stepped off stage and rocked a chalkboard.
1. Gene Simmons
For a brief spell in the early 1970s, Gene Simmons�AKA the fire-breathing Demon bassist of Kiss�taught sixth grade at P.S. 75 in New York City�s Spanish Harlem.
�The reason I quit after six months,� Simmons revealed, �is that I discovered the real reason I became a teacher. It was because I wanted to get up on stage and have people notice me. I had to quit because the stage was too small. Forty people wasn�t enough. I wanted 40,000.�
In 2005, Simmons hopped the pond to star in the UK reality TV show, Gene Simmons� Rock School, where the God of Thunder was challenged, a la the beloved Jack Black movie School of Rock, to transform a classroom full of kids into a high-powered rock-and-roll ensemble.
