Undercover busker: 4 famed musicians who hid in plain sight
Mandel Ngan
Oh sure, you recognize Joshua Bell when he's playing the friggin' White House.
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Most 9-to-5 office drones making their daily commute to work are too rushed—or indifferent—to notice the difference between a world-class musician playing a valuable instrument and a dude banging on a barrel with a stick. But despite the oft-overlooked talent of public performers, or “buskers,” established musicians from Paul McCartney to Sonny Rollins—who plays at The Kennedy Center on Wednesday—have historically hit the streets and subways to test their supposedly inherent appeal. To understand the enduring allure of this thankless activity, The A.V. Club takes a look at several famous artists’ busking histories.
Who: Sonny Rollins
Where: Williamsburg Bridge, N.Y.
What happened: Sonny Rollins took his first musical sabbatical at the age of 29. (When you’ve already recorded with jazz legends like Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Art Blakey, you can take some time off whenever you damn well please.) Overwhelmed by the pressure of his fame, the prodigious saxophonist withdrew to work on his craft in the most anxiety-free place he could find: the Williamsburg Bridge.
How it helped: Although Rollins wasn’t trying to engage with the general public so much as spare his neighbors from his practice routine, the open-air setting defined the classic accessibility of his aptly titled comeback album, The Bridge. Sometimes being in public is the most private place to be.
Who: Paul McCartney
Where: Leicester Square tube station, London
What happened: While working on the movie Give My Regards To Broad Street in 1984, then un-knighted celebrity commoner Paul McCartney put on a fake beard and sunglasses to perform in the busy Leicester Square tube station. Beatlemania had long since waned, but several keen passersby asked the baby-faced Beatle if he was actually who they suspected he was. McCartney waved the inquiries off, however, and ended up making only a few shillings off the whole experience.
How it helped: It’s easy to understand why a dude whose mere face brought women to tears would want to see how he’d do in disguise and playing on his own, but it’s an admirably humbling experiment all the same. What money he did make McCartney donated to charity.
Who: Sting
Where: A tube station in London
What happened: Warned that his glittery career as a breathy pop-rock crooner was doomed to end, Sting decided to test his skills by performing anonymously in the London underground. Pulling his hat down low, he played songs as people hurried past him. At one point, an excited woman called out his name, but a man behind her quickly retorted, “You silly cow. It’s not him. He’s a multimillionaire.”
How it helped: Apparently "over the moon" with the less than $70 he made, Sting was sufficiently reassured of his talent to return to his money-wrapped, tantric lifestyle. At least he now knows that if he loses everything, he can always play for excitable female commuters.
Who: Joshua Bell
Where: L’Enfant Plaza Metro station, Washington D.C.
What happened: To test the perception of beauty out of context, The Washington Post asked prodigy violinist Joshua Bell to play at L’Enfant Plaza during rush hour—using a rare instrument valued more than $3 million. Of the more than 1,000 people who passed by, only seven actually stopped to enjoy the incognito virtuoso’s recital.
How it helped: The choice of timing and setting—which Gene Weingarten, the article's author, described as “more plebian than most”—seems a little like a setup for failure, but the shock value of the much-publicized, Pulitzer Prize-winning article was enough to make at least some people reconsider their morning rush.
