88 Grandiose Facts About Musical Instruments That’ll Move Your Heart

- Sponsored Links -

1David Grohl

David Grohl

David Grohl was the only band member of Foo Fighters when recording the first album. He wrote and recorded all vocal, guitar, bass, and drum tracks himself.


2. Ringo Starr is a left-handed drummer who plays a right-handed drum kit, leading to his peculiar and uncharacteristic drumming style.


3. The legend of Sir Francis Drake's drum: On his deathbed, Sir Francis Drake requested that his drum be returned to England, and if they ever came under attack, one was to beat the drum and he would return to protect the country.


4. Flavor Flav (William Jonathan Drayton Jr.) is a musical prodigy. By the time he started performing with Public Enemy, he was proficient in 15 different instruments, from drums to oboe.


5. Rick Allen, the drummer for Def Leppard, lost his arm after a car accident in 1984. He thought he could never play in the band again and became very depressed until a fellow drummer helped him design an electronic drum kit that could be played with only one arm. He returned to the band in 1986.


Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History


6Hindenburg piano

Hindenburg piano

An aluminum grand piano was built in the lounge of the airship Hindenburg. It weighed only 356 pounds.


7. As part of a marketing campaign in 2012, Nestle posted a photo on Instagram of a person in a bear costume playing drums, using Kit Kats as drum sticks. Nestle removed the photo shortly afterward amid controversy that it looked like "Pedobear".


8. A mysterious mute man named Andreas Grassl was found wandering the streets of England in 2005. He could only communicate via piano.


9. Ray Charles, not only played the piano blind but was also a keen chess player. His white and black squares had different elevation, and the pieces were shaped differently depending on the color.


10. Sir Richard Branson's only attempt as a music producer was a novelty record called "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" that consisted of sheep baa-ing over a drum machine track. It reached #42 on the UK charts in 1982.


- Sponsored Links -

11David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie played guitar, piano, saxophone, harmonica, synthesizers, vibraphone, xylophone, koto, drums, viola and cello.


12. The drumbeat played during the invasion sequence in Independence Day (1996) spells out "D-I-E" in Morse Code.


13. The Cat Organ was a 16th-century piano-type contraption which was played by a trained bear by yanking the tails of cats in order to create music.


14. John Bonham's live drum solo on "Moby Dick" would get so intense his sticks would break and he'd continue playing with his hands, occasionally drawing blood.


15. During the Chinese Sparrow extermination campaign, the Polish Embassy refused to allow Chinese to kill the Sparrows hiding in their complex, so the Chinese waited outside hitting drums for two days straight until all the sparrows died of exhaustion.


- Sponsored Links -

16Leon Theremin

Leon Theremin

Leon Theremin invented the Rhythmicon, the world's first drum-machine in 1931.


17. George Clinton doesn't know who played guitar for one of Funkadelic's greatest guitar solos, "Get Off Your A*s and Jam" (1975). The mystery guitarist was a white heroin addict who asked to sit in and was paid $50.


18. Eric Clapton once showed up drunk to George Harrison's house, silently handed him a guitar and amp, and the two had a musical duel for 2 hours.


19. In 1969, Willie Nelson ran into a burning house to save his guitar, and a pound of Cannabis.


20. Jack White of the White Stripes was saving Seven Nation Army's guitar riff in case he got asked to do a James Bond theme.


21Dimebag Darrell

Dimebag Darrell

Dimebag Darrell once asked Eddie Van Halen for a copy of his guitar "Bumblebee" from the cover of Van Halen II. Eddie said yes but forgot. After Dimebag was killed, he turned up at the viewing with the original and it is now buried with him.


22. Derek Amato is one of just 30 “acquired savants” worldwide. After being taken to the hospital with a serious concussion from a diving accident, he sat down at a piano and discovered he was a musical genius.


23. When German fighter ace Hans-Joachim Marseille was asked to play the piano in front of Hitler, he played a forbidden jazz song.


24. In 1970's, Chuck Berry toured with only a guitar, finding some local bands for each show. He was confident that he could hire a band that already knew his music. He did not even give them a set list and just expected the musicians to follow his lead.


25. Demetri Martin would play guitar and have music playing in the background of his comedy specials so Comedy Central couldn't edit his set.

1
2
3
4
- Sponsored Links -

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here