All eyes are on the Coachella Valley for these two weeks. With stars such as Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator, Doja Cat, and even No Doubt, this year’s festival is set to be better than ever.
Ever wondered what it takes to carve out a career that leads to the festival where the vibes are as good as the music and headliners can earn $8-$12 million for headlining both weekends? Well for a lot of our stars, they’ve taken a very unexpected path indeed.
Here’s what some of our headliners and stars did before they were famous, and what they might have earned too.
Lana Del Rey
Job before fame: Waitress
Average salary: $29,120
Before heading to college, Lana Del Rey (aka Elizabeth Woolridge Grant) spent a year living on Long Island with her aunt and uncle, working as a waitress. While there her uncle taught her to play guitar, and she quickly realized that a million songs were just waiting to be written.
She began writing songs and performing in nightclubs before heading to Fordham University to major in philosophy (and specializing in metaphysics!).
Fancy spending a year waitressing just like Lana? On top of your salary, you could take home some healthy tips too.
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Doja Cat
Job before fame: Dancer
Average hourly rate: $22.62
Doja made her first upload to Soundcloud at just 16, so that didn’t leave much space for alternative career paths. However, when she was at school she attended breakdancing classes and joined a professional poplocking troupe with whom she competed in dance battles throughout her high school education.
You need to be fit, disciplined, and have some serious skills to pursue a career in dancing. Only time will tell if Doja uses her skills while headlining Coachella.
Gwen Stefani (No Doubt)
Job before fame: Make-up artist
Average salary: $52,224
She may not look it, but extra special guest Gwen Stefani is 54 years old, and as well as selling 60 million records worldwide with No Doubt she’s also a record producer, actress, reality show judge, and fashion designer. She launched her fashion line L.A.M.B in 2004 and last year she debuted her makeup line called GXVE Beauty.
While she is widely recognised for her iconic beauty look, the lesser-known fact is that she doesn’t hire a make-up artist. She prefers doing her own glam. She previously shared with Glamour that her passion for beauty all started when she was working as a make-up artist at a department store.
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Tom Dumont (No Doubt)
Job before fame: Filing clerk
Average salary: $34,146
No Doubt guitarist Tom found his passion for music from a young age. His dad gave him a guitar at age twelve. He was a member of his sister’s band and majored in music theory during his college years (although he dropped out of college later). It’s natural to presume he would be living off of making music his entire life.
In fact, when No Doubt’s first album was canned by a record label, being a guitarist was still his side hustle. During the day, he was a filing clerk at a mortgage company. When he was 27, he finally decided to quit his office job and pursue his music career full-time.
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Tyler, the Creator
Job before fame: Barista
Average salary: $31,605
Tyler Gregory Okonma, aka Tyler, the Creator, is headlining both Saturdays. A far cry from the glitz and glamour of Coachella, Tyler spent two weeks working at FedEx and a further two years working at Starbucks before finding fame.
If you know your grande macchiato from your Americano, barista salaries are way below average, but a lot of people make it up with tips.
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Ice Spice
Job before fame: Cashier
Average salary: $28,730
Isis Naija Gasto, who you’re more likely to know as Ice Spice, attended State University of New York at Purchase (SUNY), and had a short (but successful) career in school volleyball!
Whilst at college, she was not only meeting with record producers and making music, but working on the side – something lots of students can relate to! If you were in the Big Apple in 2018, you might have run into Ice Spice at a local Wendy’s and The Gap.
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J Balvin
Job before fame: Roofer
Average salary: $39,401
Price of Reggaeton (Principe del Reguetón) J Balvin has worked a ton of different jobs. He worked as a roofer and house painter and whilst living with an aunt tried dog walking too.
It wasn’t long before his star rose, pursuing a music career from the age of 19 onwards.
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Lil Yachty
Job before fame: Food service crew member
Average salary: $25,163
Lil Yachty dropped out of college and moved to NYC to launch his career. Whilst networking with a variety of online streetwear personalities he built up his own Instagram following too. Unfortunately for Yachty, that didn’t pay the bills so he worked in McDonald’s to supplement his bills. Now, he’s creating sponsored content for the chain!
The benefit of a role in food service, as Lil Yachty found, is that it gives you the flexibility to also pursue passion projects.
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Do you dream of the Coachella stage or are your career ambitions in fashion or writing? If this list shows us anything, it’s that everyone starts somewhere.
Read more: The 2024 Oscar nominees: What they did before fame