British Musicians: What Was Their Education?

March 1, 2022

• Topical

Beginning this blog series exploring cultural icons and their educations, the first category we have surveyed is British musicians from a range of genres. While receiving formal musical training, like that provided by the Royal academy of Music, is a popular way to break into the field, this is not the path taken by all. Many of these famous musicians chose not to attend university or study unrelated academic subjects before changing their career path.

It is unsurprising that Music and Music related disciplines was the most popular subject studied at university with 55% of those surveyed studying it. It is more popular amongst classical musicians than pop or other genres, as 78% of the classical musicians surveyed studied a musical related discipline at University. However this was not the case for all, with some such as Charles Villers Stanford, not studying music at university as his parents stipulated that he must first have a conventional education. It was during his time at Cambridge studying Latin and Greek studies that he was able to throw himself into the musical life of the university.

Interestingly, History and Ancient World studies, closely related disciplines, was also a popular choice and was studied by 20% of those surveyed. Whether there is a link between a historical and musical inclination is yet to be proven! It certainly worked for Chris Martin, who met his Coldplay bandmates while studying Ancient World Studies at UCL.

Of equal interest, there is no mention of sciences on the list, but perhaps unconventionally, Mick Jagger studied Finance and accounting prior to his time in the Rolling Stones and Rainer Hersch studied economics before training formally as a conductor at The Conservatoire in London. Mick Jagger is said to have considered a career as a journalist or politician before the success of the Stones, comparing the latter with a pop star!

In terms of those that did not attend university, it is not to say that they had no formal musical training, with artists including Amy Winehouse, Dua Lipa and Rita Ora all attending the Sylvia Young theatre school prior to turning eighteen. Sam Smith also had some musical theatre training, attending Youth Musical Theatre UK when they was growing up.

Not all pop stars received formal musical education when they were so young. Stormzy, who was the self-proclaimed ‘naughty child’ at school, did well in his GCSE’s and A-Levels before doing an apprenticeship and working in quality assurance before his big break. He sees immense value in education, setting up his own scholarship The Stormzy Fund for Black UK Students at the University of Cambridge.

Similarly to last week’s blog post, this serves as a strong reminder that there are multiple paths to success and opportunities present themselves in all walks of life.