Top 10 Musician Rumours That Turned Out to be True
#10: Prince Evangelized Door-To-Door for Jehovah’s Witnesses
Prince Harry's Spare: Top 10 Most Shocking Reveals
For the better part of his remarkable career, Prince was known for defying societal expectations with his brazenly provocative music. For that reason, many were shocked when he decided to become a Jehovah's Witness in 2001. The iconic musician was said to have taken his newfound faith very seriously and it was once reported that, like many members of the religion, he practiced door-to-door evangelism. While that remained a rumor for years, a Minnesota couple later confirmed that Prince once knocked on their door to proselytize to them. Apparently, the purple star would wear disguises and introduce himself as “Brother Nelson” to evade being recognized. But when you’re as famous as Prince, that can be a pretty daunting task.
#9: Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s Relationship
Top 10 Most Hilarious Rihanna Moments
Rumors of a romantic relationship had followed music stars Rihanna and A$AP Rocky for years. The two had been friends for a long time, with A$AP opening for her Diamonds World Tour in 2013, and Rihanna starring in his “Fashion Killa” music video later that year. The rumors intensified after that, but with both musicians getting romantically involved with other people, they slowly died down. However, after Rihanna parted ways with her Saudi billionaire boyfriend Hassan Jameel, the gossip mills began churning once again. Their relationship was confirmed in 2021, after A$AP referred to Rihanna as “the love of my life” in an interview. The couple welcomed a son in May 2022.
#8: Nikki Sixx’s Near-Death Experience
As the co-founder and bassist of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, Nikki Sixx was a rock music staple throughout the ‘80s. But at the peak of his career, Sixx struggled with substance use disorder, which gravely affected his personal and professional life. In fact, at one point, it was rumored that the musician had overdosed on heroin and died. This was technically true… for two minutes. According to reports, on December 23rd 1987, Sixx was rushed to the hospital after overdosing on the substance. He was pronounced clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic pumped him with two shots of adrenaline and revived him. The out-of-body experience reportedly inspired Sixx to write the band’s 1989 anthem “Kickstart My Heart”.
#7: Tupac’s Friends Smoked His Ashes
The Untold Story of Tupac's Murder Timeline Explained
The world lost beloved music icon Tupac Shakur on September 13th 1996. The late rapper was reportedly cremated the next day and there has been so much speculation as to what happened to his ashes. For years, there was a longstanding rumor that members of Tupac’s group Outlawz had smoked his ashes to honor him. In 2011, members of the group gave credence to the news by confirming in an interview that they did, in fact, do that. According to them, they believed the rapper explicitly asked for it in the lyrics of his posthumous song “Black Jesuz”. Although they claimed to have done so in the presence of Tupac’s mom, the Shakur family later released a statement denouncing their actions.
#6: Michael Jackson Wrote Music for “Sonic the Hedgehog 3”
Top 5 Facts About Michael B. Jordan
The video game “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” was released in 1994 to critical and commercial acclaim. While many fans were in awe of the much improved gameplay, some others noticed striking similarities between the music and that of pop icon Michael Jackson. Jackson’s involvement in the “Sonic” soundtrack remained a rumor for years, until it was seemingly confirmed by one of the game’s creators, Yuji Naka, in 2022. Apparently, Jackson and his team had recorded complete tracks for the soundtrack, but just as production on the game was underway in 1993, the musician was hit with assault allegations. This seems to have played a part in Jackson receiving no credits for his involvement.
#5: Ozzy Osbourne & the Ants
Heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne has admittedly done a lot of outrageous things throughout his long, storied career. But this one takes things to a new level of extreme. While on his “Bark at the Moon” tour in 1984, Osbourne stopped over at a Florida hotel alongside opening acts Mötley Crüe. The story goes that on one particular afternoon, the former Black Sabbath frontman took a straw and snorted a line of ants with it. While this may horrify the average person, it probably won’t be much of a surprise to anyone familiar with Osbourne’s antics. The rumor was confirmed in the band’s autobiography “The Dirt” and depicted in the same-titled Netflix film.
#4: KISS Inject Their Blood Into Comic Books
In the 1970s, New York band KISS took rock music by storm. The original four-man lineup was known for their signature white-and-black make-up and comic book-style costumes. In 1977, at the height of their popularity, the group teamed up with Marvel’s Stan Lee to create a series of KISS comic books. Seemingly as a marketing ploy, each member of the band was reported to have drawn a bit of their blood, which was then mixed with the printing ink for the comics. Turns out this was in fact true, as confirmed by KISS founding member Paul Stanley, and Lee himself. If that’s not the most shock rock-esque thing to ever happen in the comic book universe, we don’t know what is.
#3: Cass Elliot & Keith Moon Died in the Same Apartment
While their paths may never have crossed, Cass Elliot and Keith Moon shared more similarities than they could imagine. Not only were they members of music groups, but they both met their untimely demise at age 32. Even weirder, this reportedly happened in the same apartment, only four years apart. The Mayfair, London flat belonged to Harry Nilsson, a singer-songwriter mutual friend of theirs who was mostly on the road and rented it out to his musician pals. Elliot died there on July 29th 1974, while in London for a concert. Four years later, Moon moved into the apartment, where he also passed away from a drug overdose. Unsurprisingly, Nilsson moved out of the flat and sold it off.
#2: Mick Jagger & David Bowie’s Intimate Relationship
Two revered icons, Mick Jagger and David Bowie are both regarded among the most influential musicians of the 20th century. The two were first linked in the early ‘70s and soon grew so close that rumors of an intimate relationship between them filled the media. They even released a duet cover of the song “Dancing in the Street,” which hit number one in their home country of the UK. In 2012, journalist Christopher Andersen released a shocking biography of Jagger, in which he seemingly confirms rumors of an affair. According to the book, Bowie’s then-wife Angie found both men naked in bed together. While she didn’t seem to interrupt - ahem - anything, Angie was “absolutely dead certain” something had, in fact, happened between them.
#1: Charles Manson Wrote a Song for the Beach Boys
Before he founded and led the infamous Manson Family cult, Charles Manson was a struggling musician hoping for his big break. After leaving prison in the late 1960s, Manson made the acquaintance of the Beach Boys’ drummer Dennis Wilson, who hoped to sign him to a recording contract. Although that never came to fruition, Manson actually wrote a song titled “Cease to Exist” for the band. The lyrics were eventually reworked and released in 1968 as “Never Learn Not to Love”. This served as the B-side to their moderately successful single “Bluebirds over the Mountain”. In the end, Manson received no writing credit for the song, and a little over two years later, he was convicted of the Tate and LaBianca murders.
