I was in a huge nineties band with massive hit – but I had a breakdown and now I’ve got a very normal job
A NINETIES rocker has traded in Britpop fame to become a psychologist.
Simon Rowbottom found fame in top alternative rock band The Boo Radleys in the 1990s alongside Steve Hewitt, Tim Brown, Martin Carr, Rob Harrison and Rob Cieka.
Simon, 54, was the group’s lead singer, guitarist and songwriter responsible for hits including 1995 track Wake Up Boo!
Yet he traded in music fame for a career in mental health – after seeking therapy himself.
Talking of the switch, he told julianconnorreid.com: “I think I was in therapy at the time.
“I think the decision to become a psychologist followed on from a suggestion from the therapist I was working with.
“I was completely lost from 2005-2006. I didn’t know what I was doing. Didn’t know where it was all going.
“Music wasn’t working and during a session with my therapist, I talked about having been offered a place at Liverpool University when I was seventeen. The Boo Radleys were starting up and I didn’t take it up.”
He told how he knew it was the career for him when he focussed on counselling psychology.
He later became a lecturer in the subject.
The Boo Radleys’ number one album Wake Up! was their debut, before the band released albums Help, C’mon Kids, Kingsize and Find the way Out.
After just a few years together, the band called it quits in 1999.
Simon is not the only member of the Wallasey-based group to return to a normal career.
Bassist Tim Brown quit fame to become an IT teacher in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, we recently reported how American rocker Dan Spitz traded in his guitarist role in metal band Anthrax for a career as a watch-maker.
A Nineties hitmaker also switched pop fame to re-train as a mental health nurse – much to the surprise of fans.
A Canadian rock band frontman has also totally changed his look from his curly-blonde locks.
Additionally, an Indie band star from The Cooper Temple Clause band is now a managing director of an organisation that mediates between staff and employees.
Ben Gautrey was the lead singer and guitarist of the Berkshire-formed group which split in 2007, when member Daniel Fisher quit.
Talking of the band’s split, he told NME: “Looking back, I can see that some of the problems of being in a band like recognition and breakdown in communication seem to happen in all workplaces.
“My job’s about getting employees to become more engaged with their company, and when I do that I go home happy.”