When you look at the famous and talented musicians out there, you may wonder how many of them actually pursued a formal education in music and how many of them simply followed their talents to the top. We’ve wondered the same thing, so we’ve compiled a list of some of the many famous musicians that majored in music while they were in college, whether they went for a bachelor’s degree in performance or they got something like an online master of music in music education. Within this list, however, are also some famous musicians who decided to major in something non-music related.
Ludacris
One of the most well-known rappers of all time, Ludacris, actually studied at Georgia State University back in the late ‘90s. While there, he focused on music management, but he decided to leave school after just one year in order to focus on actively pursuing his professional career as a musician. He made the right choice, but we are pretty sure that he learned something valuable while he was in school, and that he was able to apply his new music management skills so that he could have the lucrative career that he now enjoys.
Ice Cube
Ice Cube is a filmmaker, actor, and rapper who became famous first as a member of popular hip/hop groups before going solo. Many people know Ice Cube for all of the work that he has accomplished in both music and film, but what they may not know is that he went to school at the Phoenix Institute of Technology back in the 1980s. There, he studied architectural drafting, even though you might think of him as someone who would opt for something like an online MMME degree. The education he received was only meant to last a year and he did graduate from the program successfully.
Common
Common the Rapper, who made his debut in ’92 and continued to grow increasingly more famous throughout the ‘90s, spent some time studying business administration at Florida A&M University. He actually had a scholarship that he was able to use to pursue his studies at the university, but he only stuck it out for two years before he decided to drop out because he was signed to Relativity Records.
Childish Gambino
Childish Gambino is a well-known rapper, as well as a singer, producer, comedian, writer, and actor. That’s a lot of hats to wear! He started off as a writer for the hit TV series, “30 Rock,” and went on to continue his career by taking on acting roles. You would think that his career alone would have kept him busy, but it turns out that he also worked on getting his degree in dramatic writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
When you learn about all of the famous musicians and stars that took the time to pursue higher education, it’s interesting to see what they decided to major in. As you can see from the list above, not every musician who went on to enjoy a successful career actually studied music while in school.
