One thing that we all have in common, regardless of the level of exposure our music and production attains, is that we have moms and we’ve had teachers, both of which have undoubtedly had an effect on our craft. Whether it was affecting our worldview through experiences, or just making us practice, both moms and teachers had a profound impact on the art we create.  

Mother’s Day is coming up, and it’s currently Teacher Appreciation Week. While there’s a lot of music that has been written to work through–let’s just call them issues–regarding both, Pink Floyd’s The Wall is a thing after all, we’re going to have a positive look at successful musicians who had mothers who were teachers, and musicians who at one point were teachers themselves. Of course, this will also involve a playlist. 

Teacher Mothers

Virginia Grohl 

Dave Grohl’s mom is probably the most famous rock star mom because she wrote a book about being the mom of a rock star, and interviewed other rock star moms for it. While she sadly passed in 2022, she left a legacy of not only a son who has had an incredibly successful career, she touched the lives of thousands of kids she taught during a multi-decade career where she taught at Poe Intermediate, Thomas Jefferson High, Fairfax High and Annandale High in Virginia.

Lesli Wallen

Morgan Wallen’s mom Lesli was elementary school teacher in Tennessee for over 20 years and just recently retired. Like Virginia Grohl, she kept teaching for a few years even after their sons got rich and famous. Lesli Wallen has been married to Morgan’s dad Tommy for over 30 years, and Morgan credits them both for his success.  

Carole Underwood

Carrie Underwood’s mom taught elementary school in Oklahoma for 25 years, and Carrie’s two sisters followed their mother into the profession. Carrie’s parents Carole and Stephen have been married for over fifty years, and have been ever present in their daughter’s career from the beginning when Carole would make costumes for talent shows, to encouraging her to try out for American Idol. They are still ever present in her life and career. 

Jacqueline McEntire 

Reba McEntire’s mother Jackie, was both a school secretary and teacher in Oklahoma for decades, while her father Clark, was pursuing his career in rodeo where he was a three-time world champion steer roper and 1988 inductee into the Rodeo Hall of Fame. She passed at the age of 93 in 2020 as the matriarch of one of the most country families imaginable. 

Mary Morello

Tom Morello didn’t fall very far from the tree. His 101 year old mother, Mary, taught English in Germany, Japan and Peru in the 1950s, while once circling the globe in a freighter. She gave birth to Tom while involved in the Civil Rights Movement and NAACP in the 1960s. When Tom was a baby, she took a job at Libertyville High outside of Chicago where she taught US History and Social Studies until in 1987. She moved on to start the foundation Parents for Rock and Rap, to counter Tipper Gore’s crusade to censor it. In 1991 she began to volunteer and teach Adult Literacy at the Salvation Army. Her work continues, even if she’s slowed down a bit, you know, due to being 101 years old. 

As a bonus video, Mary Morello also happened to be the homeroom teacher of Adam Jones (Tool), who called her “the coolest lady you’d ever meet.”

Stars who Taught

Sting

Sting taught secondary school for two years after he graduated. He's on record as not enjoying it very much, but did get the inspiration to write a song about it, although he claims this song is not specifically about any personal experience.

Mark Knopfler 

While struggling in his younger years, Knopfler took a job teaching English at Loughton College part time. In his words, it was a positive experience, "I finally got a job teaching English in a college, which I was delighted to have because it proved to be a real steadying influence," he said. "There happened to be guitar classes at the college, and there was a guitar teacher there with whom I used to play. In addition, I also would go out into country schools and teach little kids basic guitar and singing a few times a week."

It seemed to have worked out for him. 

Joe Satriani 

While Satriani isn’t a teacher in the traditional sense, as in, he didn’t teach at a school, he’s taught, and still teaches guitar to some of the greatest in the industry.  His students include Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett, David Bryson, Geoff Tyson and Larry LaLonde. 

Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack began her teaching career teaching music at a segregated school in North Carolina. She moved to Washington DC for more opportunity a couple years later, and taught middle school throughout the area while spending evenings accompanying opera singers at the Tivoli Theater where she would sing during intermission. She was discovered when singing at a benefit concert to raise funds for a children's library in the inner city of Washington.