Celebs who like prog!!!!

I was watching a live DVD by 'THE HUMAN LEAGUE' & one of the extras is an interview with the singer Phil Oakey. He talks very fondly about prog music and how it influenced him. He cites his  favourite bands as YES, THE NICE , KING CRIMSON & TANGERINE DREAM. He actually mentions YES twice during the interview. This really surprised me as prog bands usually get bashed by 80's artists.

This just got me wondering if anyone else knows of non-prog artists/actors or celebs ect who like prog music. I have a couple of others! The sixties crooner Tony Christie listed his ten favourite albums of all time in a recent Sunday newspaper magazine & he had CLOSE TO THE EDGE in there. Also, Mick Jones of The Clash was a prog fan!

I remember once happening upon a People magazine (it might have been lying around while I was waiting to get my hair cut, or something) that had an article about ace NY Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson, who owns a drum set given to him by Alan White! There was even a photo to prove it.

I like to think of him on the mound tapping his toes to 'Sound Chaser' while mowing down opposing batters with 98 mph fastballs...

Former Expos (remember them MLB Montreal team?) Warren Cromartie was a Rush fan too.

He actually jammed with them just for fun.He was a drummer btw.

Geck0 wrote: There is another thread like this... but on there, it says Steve Davis the Snooker player (yes yes, I know, he's an equivalent to a baseball pitcher, hehe) likes Magma and even has a website dedicate to them apparently.

Iv'e heard he likes Magma too!!!

There is also Jeremy Clarkson off of "Top Gear" he had prog music playing on the car stereo when they were testing cars out on the track. Although he mentioned that VdGG weren't one of his favourites, so obviously he can't be that big a fan of prog.

...oh and Homer Simpson of course

I wrote the VdGG book so I only know of people who are into VdGG (which doesn't neccesarily mean they're into prog in general!).

Musicians (non-prog) - Phil Oakey from the Human League said (in the Guardian I think) "We used to listen to Genesis, but the band we really loved was VdGG." Other fans of VdGG are Marc Almond (Soft Cell), John Frusciante (R H Chili Peppers), Bruce Dickensen (Iron Maiden), Johnny Rotten, Mark E. Smith (The Fall), Don Bolles (The Germs), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Simon Gallup (The Cure), Julian Cope, Jim Kerr (Simple Minds), Colin Newman (Wire), Nick Cave, Graham Coxon (Blur), Henry Rollins.

Others would include famous writers like Ian Rankin (the Detective John Rebus series) and Michel Faber; movie directors Jonathan Demme & Anthony Minghella; Record producers Hugh Padgham, Tchad Blake, and George Martin.

I find it extraordinary to see a band like VdGG gain such a large and electic mix of followers, much more so than someone like Yes or Genesis. Prog may be unfashionable, but those two bands still sold millions of records and can be heard on the radio so they're bound to be known and have celebrity followers. It's stranger (and more encouraging IMO) to see groups like VdGG, Magma, Can, etc be namechecked by other non-prog artists.

UnknownFlow wrote: Comedian Phil Jupitus is a Rush fan I assume (seeing as he has a "Signals" T-Shirt) and Cliff Burton from (early) Metallica always said Geddy Lee was one of his main influences.

Phil Jupitus even interviewed Geddy & Alex on his breakfast show while they were touring R30!! He played several Rush songs and even reffered to that day as 'Prog Monday'!