Retraining can be a new beginning – even for artists. These examples show how successful musicians are breaking new ground.
Streaming instead of buying records, lockdown instead of live clubs – and now artificial intelligence is pushing into every niche of creative work: musicians are finding it harder than ever to make a living from their art. How about retraining?
Editorial recommendations
1. Winson
With “What does Peter actually live on?” and “Lovesickness is Luxury, Baby” (2004), Winson, who lives in Berlin, wrote songs that captured the urban lifestyle of the noughties and still sound fresh today. But after two albums, Winson changed career paths in 2006: As a FluxFM presenter, he shaped the Berlin radio landscape until 2022. Today he and Ueli Häfliger are dedicated to the “Goldstückli” podcast, in which the two regularly present new music.
2. Juliane Werding
The spiritually open-minded pop singer created timeless thoughtful classics with songs like “On the day Conny Kramer died” (1972) and “Voices in the Wind” (1986). But music alone never satisfied the Essen native: in 1987 she completed training as a naturopath and later completed acting training. In 2009, Werding withdrew from the public after the release of her last album and then worked as a naturopath in Starnberg. Greetings from the secret tarot.
3. Peter Garrett (Midnight Oil)
If a weather-beaten father turns on the radio in the station wagon, “Beds Are Burning” (1987) by Midnight Oil is probably playing. Many listeners may not have been aware that the Australians’ biggest hit addressed the expulsion of Aborigines. Frontman Peter Garrett, on the other hand, took his band’s messages seriously – so seriously that he left music and entered politics in 2002, even reaching the position of Australian Environment Minister in this role.
4. Grillmaster Flash
If the life of a musician between a small fan community and an eternal insider tip costs more energy and resources than it can give back, perhaps there is strength in the end. That’s exactly what Christian Wesemann prefers: After almost 20 years, the man from Bremen will say goodbye to his career as Grillmaster Flash in 2025. But anyone who carries songs with as much self-deprecating tenderness as “Where I am now” (2022) is guaranteed to make an interesting new beginning somewhere else.
5. Jasmin Wagner
Blümchen, Germany’s most successful singer of the 90s, had already taken a break from being a pop star in 2000 and even turned to acting for a time. However, it was never possible without music: In 2011, Wagner played the main role in a play about Alexandra’s life and sang the songs of the pop singer who died tragically young (“My Friend, the Tree”) herself. After a musical comeback under her old stage name in 2019, she will finally hang up her floral clothes in 2025 – this is what Wagner’s Instagram profile and the pleasantly ominous-sounding title of her farewell tour reveal: “The Last Rave”. But she still wants to write songs.
6. Tobias Schlegl
Tobi Schlegl became known in the 1990s as a lively Viva presenter, appeared in front of the camera for various TV formats and also played in his band Familie Schlegl. In 2016, the Cologne resident made a much-noticed, radical new start: he began training as an emergency paramedic, which he completed in 2020. His debut novel “Shock Room” (2020) deals with this time of upheaval, the search for meaning and the experiences in the rescue service. Today Schlegl combines his media work with social commitment. There is no more music.
7. Rihanna
She is considered a prime example of an artist who, despite solid music and accessible lyrics, could not make a living from her work: Rihanna. Her album ANTI (2016) was to be her last. Presumably under gentle pressure from the employment office responsible for her, the Barbadian-born woman then retrained to become an actress, fashion designer and entrepreneur. New music? None. But as her fans say: “The main thing is that our Rihanna is happy!”