The lure of the show business limelight might seem irresistible to most of us – after all, there’s the fame, the fortune, and everything that goes with being a celebrity.
However, celebrity culture can change in an instant.
One minute, you’re selling out stadiums and signing million-pound record deals, and the next, you’re trying to sell £30 albums at conventions, resorting to signing at the local pub and telling anyone who will listen what a big deal you used to be.
While they can’t always predict their fall from grace and greatness, clever celebrities have to do their best to prepare.
For stars who know just how quickly one flop song can ruin an entire career or those who can’t cope with the ever-growing talent in the industry, a regular job starts to look rather appealing.
After years of paying their dues, climbing up the success ladder and ultimately falling down again, these are the music stars who now work “normal” jobs.
Vanilla Ice
Robert Matthew Van Winkle penned the classic “Ice Ice Baby” which was the first ever hip hop single to top the Billboard Charts (Image: Mirrorpix)
Robert Matthew Van Winkle penned the classic “Ice Ice Baby” which was the first-ever hip hop single to top the Billboard Charts.
Few rappers rose to fame as quickly as Vanilla Ice did back in 1990 when the iconic single launched.
Despite the fact that his album To the Extreme was No. 1 for four months he rapidly lost his spot at the top and fell from grace quicker than any other rapper in the industry at the time.
Vanilla Ice could be regarded as the biggest one-hit wonder of the nineties.
Between acting in his own movie, to his cameo in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, to his follow-up album that didn’t even enter the charts, Ice fell hard and he fell fast.
The once well-respected and much-loved artist was left just dabbling in music while building a reputation as a competitive Jet Ski racer.
Vanilla Ice still tours occasionally, and in 2010 featured on Jedward’s rendition of the tune that sprung him into success (Image: FilmMagic)
He then returned to the studio to chance his arm one more time by making a rap/metal album which was aimed at Limp Bizkit fans and followers.
After that failed miserably, the defeated rapper decided to try something different, and the result was rather remarkable.
He took some of the “Ice Ice Baby” residuals and invested in real estate, becoming quite adept at buying properties, fixing them up, and reselling them at a higher value.
To the surprise of just about everyone but Ice himself, he was really good at it.
The former rap artist became a full-time real-estate mogul and a remodelling expert, creating his own company – Vanilla Ice Real Estate – and he even starred in his own reality television series, The Vanilla Ice Project
Vanilla Ice still tours occasionally, and in 2010 featured on Jedward’s rendition of the same tune that sprung him into success.
MC Hammer
Stanley Kirk Burrell, better known as MC Hammer, had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s until the early 1990s (Image: EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS)
Stanley Kirk Burrell, better known as MC Hammer, had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s until the early 1990s.
Remembered for his rapid rise to fame, Hammer is known for hit records such as U Can’t Touch This and 2 Legit To Quit, his flashy dance movements, choreography and eponymous Hammer pants.
A multi-award winner, M.C. Hammer is considered a “forefather/pioneer” and innovator of pop-rap and is the first hip hop artist to achieve diamond status for an album.
After rebounding from bankruptcy and the end of the Hammer pants trend, the reinvented himself away from the spotlight (Image: NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
But just like his fellow rap star Vanilla Ice, it didn’t take too long for MC Hammer to throw in the showbiz towel after his success began to dwindle.
After rebounding from bankruptcy and the end of the Hammer pants trend, the singer reinvented himself away from the spotlight.
While his ill-advised decision to create his own search engine didn’t pan out – named WireDoo – Hammer didn’t give up on his tech dreams.
The former rapper currently works as an investor and consultant in the industry.
Tiffany
Tiffany Renee Darwish, simply known as ‘Tiffany‘, was a former teen icon.
She’s most notable for her 1987 cover of the song ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’, and released the second single from her eponymous album, Tiffany.
The perky redhead, who made a name for herself in the 1980s by doing mall concerts and singing the classic tune, faded away from fame rather quickly.
In 2015, she opened her own store, Tiffany’s Boutique, in Nashville (Image: FilmMagic)
In 2015, she opened her own store, Tiffany’s Boutique, in Nashville.
The small shop specialised in designer and vintage clothing and accessories.
Despite the fact it was run by a famous musician, the shop closed a short time later, according to the former pop star’s Twitter account.
Kevin Jonas
At the height of their fame, the Jonas Brothers made platinum albums, packed arenas, and even had their own television show (Image: REUTERS)
At the height of their fame, the Jonas Brothers made platinum albums, packed arenas, and even had their own television show.
When the band split up in 2012, Kevin Jonas stayed relatively busy in the spotlight as himself and his wife starred in their own reality series, namely, Married to Jonas.
The fly-on-the-wall series documented the couple’s domestic life and the trials and tribulations of their marriage after such a high-profile climb up the show business ladder.
After the reality show ended, and when efforts to reunite the Jonas Brothers failed, Kevin Jonas embraced another passion.
It couldn’t have been any farther removed from the lights and glitz of the pop star life which he once embraced.
Kevin became a contractor, forming Jonas Werner Fine Custom Homes and embarking on a completely different professional path from his musician brothers (Image: Redferns)
Kevin became a contractor, forming Jonas Werner Fine Custom Homes and embarking on a completely different professional path from his musician brothers.
His high-end designs prove that Kev means business: “I’ve always looked at everything I do as a business, including the Jonas Brothers,” he told the New York Daily News.
“I like to get my hands dirty. I’ve been blessed in my life where I get to say ‘You know what? I want to do this.'”
It turns out that the star is even hands-on, having built a home on Real Housewives of New Jersey.
Despite his success as a contractor, the star recently decided to reunite with his brothers, and they are now on a world tour, but he hasn’t left his home building ways forever.
Nikki Blonsky
She’s best known for her role as Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 film Hairspray and as Maggie Baker in the 2008 film Queen Sized (Image: Entertainment Films)
She’s best known for her role as Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 film Hairspray and as Maggie Baker in the 2008 film Queen Sized.
She’s also known for her starring role in the ABC Family original series, Huge.
Although she achieved massive recognition with her musical talents in Hairspray, the star quickly slid down the ladder of success and chose to adapt to a life outside of the spotlight of fame and fortune.
In July 2008, Blonsky and her parents were involved in a violent confrontation with the family of Bianca Golden, a former contestant on America’s Next Top Model.
She kept busy working in a high-end New York city shoe store and then to a beauty salon (Image: WireImage)
Golden, Blonsky, and Blonsky’s father were all charged with assault which further escalated her fall from grace and greatness.
After this, the star seemed to have a hard time finding other roles.
So, she kept busy working in a high-end New York City shoe store and then a beauty salon.
In 2011, Blonsky earned a cosmetic license and began working part-time as a hairstylist and make-up artist in her hometown in between acting auditions.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
