The Milan-born artist dropped out of school after grade five. He contributed to his family's earnings by working as a knife grinder and an auto mechanic. Then he trained as a watchmaker in his father's business - but he didn't stay there for long. In 1957, at the age of 19, his rugged voice was discovered during a singing contest, paving the way to his singing and acting career.

As a child, he helped his father deliver milk. Later, Gordon Sumner - Sting's real name - worked as a construction worker, a bus driver and even as a tax officer. He then studied to become a teacher and spent two years teaching. He first played with different jazz bands in his spare time, until he finally started, in 1977, the band The Police. The rest is music history.

In 1965, Rudolf Schenker started his first band - it would later become Scorpions. At the time, he was training to become an electrician, climbing up electric poles and working on transformers. Later, he studied photography, using the skill to finance his band. However, he knew right from the start that he'd one day become successful with his music.

Peter René Baumann initially started training as a baker in the 1980s. He took on the name DJ Bobo when he started spinning in youth clubs. Although most parents prefer to see their children learn "useful skills," the musician says his training was "nonsense" and that he should have started following his dream when he was 15. He still managed to become Switzerland's greatest musical success.

We could have imagined Rammstein's singer doing pretty much any job, but probably not this one: In the 80s, the young man from Leipzig worked as a basket weaver. An "amazing job," he once said. He had enough money to live, could make music, everything was stable - until the Fall of the Wall. The chaos of the reunification years led to Rammstein, now one of the world's most famous German bands.