Brian May, the lead guitarist and songwriter with the superstar rock band Queen. was once a teacher?

You may have heard of Brian May, the lead guitarist and songwriter with the superstar rock band Queen. But did you know that he was once a teacher?

As a youngster, Brian received his education at the Hampton Grammar School, now known as the Hampton School. By all accounts, he was an exceptional student. After graduating from high school, Brian enrolled at Imperial College London, where he studied mathematics and physics. He earned his Bachelor’s degree, with honors, in 1968. In 2007, he completed the requirements for his Ph.D. in Astrophysics which he had begun in 1971. His doctorate is also from Imperial College.

In 1971, before he struck it rich with Queen, Brian worked as a math and science teacher at South London’s Stockwell Manor. The school served economically disadvantaged students at the time. “It was very challenging,” Brian confesses. “You couldn’t get the children to attend unless they were incredibly interested in what you were saying,” he continues. “I had an advantage because I was young and could speak to them in their own language,” he said.

Brian says he enjoyed his experience as a teacher, although one class gave him exceptional trouble. “One of my most disastrous experiences was the time I tried to teach the second form rectangles, pentagons and hexangles,” Brian remembers. “I had this idea of letting them cut up colored paper with scissors. The staff said, ‘You are seriously going to take scissors into the second form?’ Half an hour into the lesson, they were all attacking each other with scissors — ears, feet and hands were getting cut and there was blood and paper everywhere,” he admitted. “I remember thinking, ‘I will never try this again!'”

To read more about Brian May, click on this biography.

Former teacher and noise pop musician Alexis Krauss of the band Sleigh Bells.

There are many talented individuals in the entertainment industry who have also served as classroom teachers. One of these is Alexis Krauss, a singer and songwriter who from the noise pop duo called Sleigh Bells.

Alexis was born Sydney Alexis Krauss on September 27, 1985. Her father is a professional musician and her mother is a registered nurse.

As a young child, Alexis studied music and performed in numerous musical theater productions. When she became a teenager, she sang lead vocals and played the bass guitar in an all-girl band. The group recorded two singles and even produced an unreleased album.

Once she graduated from high school, Alexis enrolled in college at first Marymount Manhattan College, and then Pace University. She majored in political science, and then she decided to go into teaching.  “I was studying poli sci and international studies and was doing a lot of research on the right to education and children’s education,” Alexis once revealed. “I ended up joining Teach for America. I taught for two years in the south Bronx, and that was one of the most, probably the most, rewarding and challenging things I’ve ever done,” she expressed.

It was through the Teach for America program that Alexis met Derek Miller, and the two launched their careers in the music business together. They formed a noise pop duo and named themselves Sleigh Bells. The pair has released five albums together.

In addition to music, Alexis is an advocate for clean personal care products. She co-founded a website dedicated to educating consumers about the ingredients used in personal care products. The website is called Beauty Lies Truth.

Rock on Alexis.