A look at the celebrities who tried and failed to have music careers

Over the years, there has been a number of celebrities who have tried to have music careers, only for their songs to fail and be quickly forgotten about. 

Some even started out in music, but fell into other parts of the entertainment industry such as acting, presenting or modelling.  

Abbey Clancy, Naomi Campbell and Ricky Gervais are just a few of the celebs who fans may not know have dabbled in music, but would rather forget. 

Supermodel Naomi even paid someone to have her disastrous musical career edited out of her Wikipedia page.

Here are seven stars who tried (and failed) to have music careers, before deciding to stick to what they know best.

Abbey Clancy  

Abbey screamed with embarrassment when she was teased over her music career during an appearance on Radio X on Monday.

The model, 38, rose to fame when she made it to the finals of Britain’s Next Top Model and married footballer Peter Crouch, 43, two years later.

But not long before that she enjoyed a short stint in Genie Queen alongside Lauren Blake and Anna Ord when she was just 17-years-old.

Joining hosts Toby Tarrant and Dominic Byrne on The Chris Moyles Show, Abbey was teased with a clip of one of her songs.

The presenter began: ‘I love the Kooks, they’re one of my favourite bands of all time, but not my favourite band of all time though, Abbey, because my favourite band of all time is a band from a few years ago.’

He continued: ‘I don’t know if you’ve heard of them, they’re called The Genie Queen – are you familiar with their stuff?’

‘No. That’s cruel, Toby! For God’s sake,’ Abbey exclaimed.

He explained: ‘Now, is it the Genie Queen, or is it just Genie Queen? Because Google offered different versions.’

‘It’s just Genie Queen, or GQ if you want to shorten it,’ the model replied.

Toby said: ‘Yep, okay. Abbey, I can feel you staring into my soul, so I’m just not going to look at you.’

His co-host Dominic joked: ‘She’s going smack you in the mouth.’

Abbey exclaimed: ‘I didn’t realise I was coming on to get stitched up!’

She screamed as he played on of their songs, Finger Licking, and said: ‘Agh! I can’t believe you’ve done this! You horrible, horrible… This is a remix I’ve never heard.’

‘I’m actually dying right now. You know, if there wasn’t a desk in between us, I’d come and kill you.’

Abbey explained: ‘I’ve always loved singing. I did want to be a popstar back in the day. And yeah, I was working in this incredible vintage shop in Liverpool – Bulletproof it was called.

‘And when hot girls come in, I’d just be like, ‘can you sing?’ And Genie Queen was formed.’

After her stint on Britain’s Next Top Model, Abbey’s fame was cemented and her girl-next-door beauty would win her lucrative modelling contracts.

She became the face of EuroMillions and Lynx3 spray, and landed the covers of men’s magazines FHM and Sports Illustrated.

Ant & Dec aka PJ & Duncan

PJ & Duncan, who were later rebranded as Ant & Dec, began their musical career in 1993 with the release of the single ‘Tonight I’m Free’. 

This was followed in 1994 by their successful debut album Psyche, which included the single ‘Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble’. 

Ant and Dec were recently left red-faced after an old clip of them singing Eternal Love on This Morning resurfaced.

A video of them performing the track on This Morning in 1994 has now gone viral, with fans of the pair branding it a ‘difficult watch’.

The clip hasn’t gone unnoticed by Ant and Dec themselves, who commented underneath the video, writing: ‘Hahahaha!! It’s a more difficult watch for us.’

In the clip, the Saturday Night Takeaway hosts were dressed in long-sleeved tops with baggy jeans and trains.

Their casual outfits were a far cry from their typically polished appearances recognisable to fans today.

They belted out the lyrics to Eternal Love, which included lines such as: ‘Back in the days when we first met // those time we had I’m never gonna forget.’

Along with the cringe-worthy lyrics, they also busted some questionable moves, as one fan joked on Instagram: ‘The necks were necking’.

Fans of the double act found the video hilarious, including fellow presenter Stacey Dooley, who commented: ‘I’ve watched approx 100 times.’

However another person admitted they struggled to watch more than six seconds.

A third joked: ‘Never let it be said that they haven’t work for what they’ve got.’

One other, wrote: ‘This is giving the two lads that auditioned on X Factor with mysterious girl.’

PJ & Duncan were rebranded as Ant & Dec after they first started moving into TV (The Ant & Dec Show) in 1996, resulting in 1997’s The Cult of Ant & Dec, their final album, which reached 15 in the UK charts. 

Their label, Telstar Records, decided not to renew their recording contract in 1997, and their career in music ended there.

Naomi Campbell

In 1994, supermodel Naomi released her one and only R&B/pop album, Baby Woman.

It was mostly a flop, failing to pass no. 75 on the U.K. charts, but it did sell pretty well in Japan.

In 2015, a top celebrity PR agency admitted that it doctored the Wikipedia page for Naomi to present her in a more flattering light.

Sunshine Sachs said that it removed a description of the model’s 1994 solo album ‘Babywoman’ on the online encyclopedia which said it was a ‘critical and commercial failure’.

Sunshine Sachs was caught out by Wiki Strategies, a blog which investigates unethical practices on Wikipedia – which can be edited by anyone.

Sharon Osbourne

Sharon shocked fans when she shed light on her previous time in a music group and revealed the song’s source of inspiration.

According to her, the group was called The Sheikettes and they consisted of Carol Connors – who co-wrote the Rocky theme song Gonna Fly Now – and another musician by the name of Avril Giacobbi.

The Osbournes unearthed the secret disco band song record by Sharon over four decades ago, titled You Can Strike Oil In Hollywood.

The track recorded by Sharon was uncovered and detailed in an episode of the family’s revived The Osbournes podcast.

Jack told his father Ozzy: ‘You are not the only singer in this family,’ while playing part of the track. 

Ricky Gervais

In 1983, during his final year as a student at University College London, Gervais and his best friend Bill Macrae formed the new wave pop duo Seona Dancing. 

They were signed by London Records and released two singles – More to Lose and Bitter Heart – but the songs failed to make the UK singles chart.

Despite not being successful in the UK, Seona Dancing did manage to score a hit in the Philippines with More to Lose.

In 2013, Gervais performed a live tour as David Brent – his character in The Oficce –  along with his band Foregone Conclusion.

In 2016, as part of the Life on the Road film promotion, Gervais published the David Brent Songbook of 15 songs, which he also recorded for the album Life on the Road as David Brent and Foregone Conclusion.

Tom Hardy

In 2018, Tom’s rap mixtape that he made in the 90s has resurfaced online.

Before his acting career took off and reached dizzying heights, the BAFTA winner had a promising music career, previously revealing he had been signed.

The star’s 18-track tape entitled Falling on Your A**e in 1999, has resurfaced 19 years later on Bandcamp in a bid to persuade the star to go on tour.

The tape is credited to Tommy No 1 aka Tom Hardy and Eddie Too Tall – Edward Tracy – with Tom rapping and Edward providing the beat.

Speaking about their collaboration, Edward told Complex: ‘Back then we were offered a record deal on the basis of this album, but Tom’s agent said ‘no don’t do music, do acting.”

Edward hasn’t lost hope that the pair will make more music, however, as he revealed: ‘Last year, Tom asked me whether I still had the album kicking about in the loft…

‘Lo and behold, here it is in all its rawness, just as it sounded then. He’ll be pleased with the reception it’s had today.

‘We always said we’d do a Vegas tour as a joke. Maybe if this album generates enough love then we can coax Tom onstage.’

Back in 2011, Tom spoke out about his musical background, telling BBC Newsbeat: ‘I started out rapping when I was 14 or 15.

‘Because I come from a nice middle-class neighbourhood it was a very hard sell. And I wasn’t very good!’

He revealed he made some very good connections back in the day, as he continued: ‘I used to be with the guy who managed Leela James and Lauren Hill, Pras, the Fugees and all that.

‘I worked out with (Grammy winning producers) Warren Riker and Gordon Williams. I’ve recorded loads of stuff but it’s never been released.’

Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka gave singing music a go, but has since opened up on why she decided to turn her back on the music industry after a short-lived attempt at chart success.

The actress made a promising start with RedOne-produced debut single In My City, which was released in 2012 and featured will.i.am.

She followed it up the next year with Pitbull collaboration Exotic, but after that she turned her focus on acting instead.

Speaking to People magazine, she explained: ‘[It’s] insane what musicians do. I don’t know how they do it… tour life is really crazy. It’s so hectic.  

‘You have late nights, early mornings, you’re traveling to a different city every day and you do it for three months. That’s why my music career lasted two seconds. I was not meant to do that. This rockstar life is… I admire it tremendously. It’s definitely not for the weak-hearted.

She added: ‘The tour wife thing, it was the first time I was doing it for the Happiness Begins Tour and it was fun. 

‘I love, love, love them (Jonas Brothers featuring Nick, Kevin and Joe Jonas) on stage. They’re an incredible experience when you watch them live and I don’t get enough of it.’