One thing which complicates my own band practices is our bass player doesn’t drive. In fairness, it doesn’t really complicate things for me — the guitarist drives him. Still, in a city like Ottawa — with its problematic transit system and enormous geographic area — it’s rare to find a 40-something who doesn’t drive. But it got me thinking about other musicians who don’t drive. There’s a rather decent number of them, and most of them have songs about cars or driving.
Some, like Cardi B, even have cars. Loads of them, in her case. The rapper and actress, born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, grew up poor in South Bronx and couldn’t afford to take drivers’ education or get her licence. She’s also afraid of driving. Despite this, Cardi B’s second hit was the Migos track MotorSport, which she contributed to along with Nicki Minaj. A professed lover of fast cars, she also has a collection of luxury automobiles including a $300K Ferrari 488 GTB, a $204K Porsche 911 GT3 RS, a $203K Lamborghini Urus, a $230K Bentley Bentayga SUV, a $315K McLaren 720S Spider, and a $550K Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster.
Unlike Cardi B, singer Christina Aguilera actually did get her driver’s licence. She just refuses to drive — especially in Los Angeles. She does however, own several luxury vehicles.
Frank Zappa had a driver’s licence until 1967, when he decided he didn’t want to wait in the long line to renew it. When he wasn’t on the road, Zappa was a homebody. That’s where his big family and recording studio were — so he basically only ever needed a lift to the airport. Bandmates say Zappa did, in fact, drive from time to time. He certainly owned several vehicles, including a 1973 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.
Of course, some people have no choice about driving — like blind musicians Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Moondog, Ronnie Milsap, José Feliciano, Andrea Bocelli and Jeff Healey.
I’m not sure if it’s still the case, but XTC‘s Andy Partridge always denied even knowing how to drive. (Can I just say how terrifying it is that he turned 70 in November?) Jethro Tull vocalist / songwriter / flautist / frontman / founder Ian Anderson has referred to himself as a professional passenger in the past. And even though he wrote Racing In The Street, Thunder Road and Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen didn’t get his licence until he was in his 20s.
Oasis co-founder Noel Gallagher is the only person on this list who not only doesn’t have a driver’s licence, but somehow managed to still get banned from driving. I guess the Range Rover he gets driven around in is registered in his name. The vehicle was tied to £80,000 worth of speeding tickets this past fall, so the courts handed Gallagher a six-month driving ban.
Drummers Keith Moon and Charlie Watts never had driver’s licences. But that didn’t stop Moon from driving, with tragic consequences. While attempting to flee a bunch of skinheads, Moon — drunk — managed to run over and kill his chauffeur Cornelius Boland, 24, in 1970. He was driving his own Bentley out of a parking lot when Boland was crushed beneath it. Moon also famously crashed a Lincoln Continental into the swimming pool of a Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan on the evening of his 21st birthday.
Watts likely also drove — but without incident. In fact, Watts was an avid collector of antique cars. He had an impressive collection, including a 1937 Lagonda Rapide — one of only 25 built. He also owned one of the most expensive cars ever manufactured, a Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic. Those have sold for more than $10 million.
Let’s face it, part of the issue here is none of these folks need to drive themselves anywhere. They can pay others to do that — giving them some nice alone time. Singer Mariah Carey used to have a driver’s licence, but let it expire. She claims to have not driven herself anywhere since 2016.
French songwriter and icon Serge Gainsbourg never drove because that would require him to be sober — something he almost never was. He did own a Rolls Royce Phantom, but preferred just to sit and smoke in it.
Singer-songwriter and writer Patti Smith became a non-driver, ironically, when she moved to Detroit from New York during her marriage to Fred “Sonic” Smith, formerly of The MC5.
Singer-songwriter and former frontman of the disbanded Replacements, Paul Westeberg, neither drives nor owns a car. Supposedly, none of the original Replacements drove back in the day — probably a good thing, given their typically inebriated state.
Marc Bolan never had a licence but did own vehicles — including a white Rolls Royce which was on loan to the band Hawkwind on the night he died in 1977 as a passenger in a Mini GT which struck a fence post and then a tree. Bolan was obsessed with cars and wrote about them constantly — Buick MacKane, Jeepster, Bang A Gong, but none more so than Metal Guru.
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Area Resident is an Ottawa-based journalist, recording artist, music collector and re-seller. Hear (and buy) his music on Bandcamp, email him HERE, follow him on Instagram and check him out on Discogs.
