The forgotten members of massive ’90s pop groups who completely left the music industry for 9-to-5s

East 17 provided bad boy charms on an otherwise clean-cut circuit of ’90s boybands, and crafted one of pop music’s most enduring Christmas tunes, ‘Stay Another Day’, complete with iconic puffer jackets and fake snow. John Hendy continued to play with the group in its next iteration, E-17, following the original fours’ split. 

Now, he’s returned to working as a roofer – the same career that pre-dated his pop star fame. John shares updates on-the-job via TikTok. While John seems content with his work life today, he told the Mail Online people expect he’s still living a far more glamorous lifestyle: “I haven’t even got a house and people think you’re millionaires and that, and I’m thinking, I don’t even got an house out of it.

Pulp’s ‘Common People’ made them an enduring hit, making lead singer Jarvis Cocker a star. But the band was also formed of musicians Russell Senior, Candida Doyle, Nick Banks, Steve Mackey and Mark Webber, with Russell playing guitar and violin.

In 1997, he decided to step back from the band and moved into a career in antiques, reportedly specialising in glassware. He reflected on his time with the band in 2015 memoir Freak Out the Squares: Life in a Band Called Pulp. Russell told The Guardian of his departure, saying: “I think the band were relieved, to be honest, because the atmosphere had become so poisonous — although treating my departure as if they had lost a plectrum was a bit hurtful.”

While a successful career as a leading physicist might not be a ‘normal’ 9-to-5, it’s a little less rock’n’roll than Dr Brian Cox’s previous occupation as a ’90s star keyboard player with dance hit D:Ream, the band behind ‘Things Can Only Get Better” and ‘U R The Best Things’. 

He’s now a professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester and a regular TV host, bringing accessible science to the screen. While he’s returned to his musical roots as a guest with bands like New Order and OMD, Brian’s heart seems to lie squarely in the world of science. 

Thrash metal legends Anthrax have been performing since 1981, with guitarist Dan Spitz leaving the group in 1995 for an unexpected career in watchmaking. He studied at Swiss school WOSTEP, earning a degree in micro-mechanical engineering.

His string-plucking skills have clearly been put to good use as the former guitarist has started his own luxury watch service. Apart from a 2005 reunion tour with Anthrax and several Christian rock performances, Dan has seemingly found his calling with a different kind of metal instrument.