Random Childhood Homes Of Famous Musicians (16 items)

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  (#14) David Bowie

  • 72

  While David Bowie's many personas seemed as though they were not of this world, young David Robert Jones grew up in a modest, down-to-earth flat in Brixton, England.

  He was interested in music at a young age. Inspired by major personalities such as Elvis Presley and Little Richard, Bowie learned how to play the ukulele, tea-chest bass, piano, and saxophone by the time he was in high school.

  The home on Stansfield Road has received little attention for its historic value. Some dedicated Bowie fans have visited the neighborhood throughout the years, but the house has never received any formal commemoration.
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  (#7) John Lennon

  • Dec. at 40 (1940-1980)

  Called “Mendips,” the home that John Lennon grew up in was owned by his aunt, Mimi Smith. After a tumultuous falling out between his absentee father and remarried mother, Lennon went to live with his aunt, who he regarded as a mother.

  Lennon was a precocious troublemaker with a penchant for grotesque drawings and pranks. He was eventually able to harness this energy into music, as he began playing in various bands throughout high school. When he was 16, he struck up a friendship with a young Paul McCartney, which resulted in their long and lucrative songwriting career as The Beatles.

  Mendips was added to the National Trust after Yoko Ono purchased the property in 2002. It is available for tour, alongside Paul McCartney's childhood home.
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  (#12) Bruce Springsteen

  • 69

  Bruce Springsteen’s artistry is the embodiment of the spirit of working-class New Jersey, and his willingness to remain true to his roots is the major appeal of his music. While he asserts he would "never live in Freehold again," he acknowledges how important the town was to his musical career.

  Springsteen spent his earliest years raised by his grandmother, Nana McNicholas. After the traumatic death of her own young daughter, her indulgence of young Springsteen lacked physical and emotional boundaries. After his grandmother passed, he went to live with his parents where he maintained a poor relationship with his father.

  His early interest in guitar and songwriting was a way to cope with his traumatic home life. Springsteen's steadfast dedication to becoming a "rock god" paid off, affording him the opportunity to process his feelings about Freehold and his father to great adoration from a global audience.

  Springsteen's childhood home on Institute Street sold for $255,000 in 2018.
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  (#1) Johnny Cash

  • Dec. at 71 (1932-2003)

  Country music legend Johnny Cash grew up in a New Deal agrarian community in Dyess, AR, which was established in 1934. His family moved to the new town when Cash was just a small child.

  The Great Depression caused great financial difficulties for Cash’s family, and he spent his early years working in the cotton fields on the family farm. His experience with growing up in poverty in the Deep South is a consistent theme in his music. His 1959 song “Five Feet High And Rising” describes a traumatic childhood experience in Dyess, where a terrible flood forced his family to leave their home.

  Cash's family home, Farm No. 266, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
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  (#15) Bono

  • 58

  Bono, born Paul David Hewson, is a Dublin native. While Bono’s home has been a popular tourist destination for U2 fans over the course of his career, it became the source of international intrigue when “Cedarwood Road” from Songs of Innocence was forcibly planted on every iPhone in 2014.

  Bono describes the home as a regular three-bedroom house in an "lower middle class" neighborhood. His mother passed when he was young, so Bono grew up with his father and brother in a "macho" environment.

  Bono's long standing issues with his father and the neighborhood were major sources of inspiration for his music, as reflected in the lyrics of “Cedarwood Road”:

  It was a war zone in my teens

  I’m still standing on that street

  Still need an enemy

  The worst ones I can’t see

  You can, you can

  The neighbors were confused by the “war zone” designation. Local native Vera Murphy says, “We’re at the entrance to the estate and we see a lot, but I never saw a war zone, hand on heart.”
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  (#2) Freddie Mercury

  • Dec. at 45 (1946-1991)

  Freddie Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara, spent many of his childhood years in Zanzibar . However, the validity of the house claiming to be the "Freddie Mercury's Zanzibar Home" is unconfirmed, even by its current owners.

  When Mercury was a teenager, his family emigrated to Feltham, a suburb west of London. Even as a teenager, Mercury was flamboyant and expressive. He regaled the neighborhood with his loud guitar practice, immaculately designed outfits, and what would soon become his inimitable vocal abilities. Mercury met his future Queen bandmates while living in this home.

  The people of Feltham still remember young Freddie Mercury with great fondness. Though the Bulsara family no longer resides in the home, it was awarded an English Heritage blue plaque in 2016.

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