Thursday 24th April 2014 by Andrew Trendell | Photos by Press

Embarrassing early press shots of the world's biggest bands

Even the coolest bands looked AWFUL once

No, this isn't a L'Oreal advert - it's a pre-fame Lady Gaga in the mid-00s, because she's worth it.

Supermassive black fringe! It's a geeky, anaemic Muse from 1999. Nice shirt, Dom - are they pyjamas?

We'd recognise that smile and those cheekbones anywhere. That toothy chap in the middle is Dave Grohl, with his pre-Nirvana band Scream.

Do blondes have more fun? Ask Lana Del Rey, seen here in her pre-fame days as Lizzy Grant.

He had 99 problems, but a decent image wasn't one, back in the late 80s for Jay Z (on the right, obviously)

Back when rock n' roll was still 'hiding in the swamp' for these acne-troubled Sheffield upstarts, Arctic Monkeys.

Back when Metallica were much less scary, and much, much less hairy.

That sweet and cherubic lass there is the magnificent Bjork, as a fresh-faced mentalist back when she was part of the brilliant Sugarcubes.

That look you get when you walk into the wrong frat party, courtesy of Blink 182 back in 1994

A much less gangsta Dr Dre with the World Class Wreckin' Cru.

Much less famous but no less badass, that's a young and long-haired Josh Homme with stoner-rock heroes Kyuss in the bottom-right.

No, not a tribute band to The Clash or an advert for Topman white jeans - it's a pre-fame Manic Street Preachers, years before they debut and before Richey Edwards even joined the band.

We're not sure what the treatment for this early Green Day photoshoot was, but we can only imagine it involved a lot of weed.

Depeche Mode...HAAA,HAHA.

"Mr, can we have our ball back?" No Coldplay, now get back to becoming the biggest stadium band on the planet.

Rock stars, eh? They've got it all figured out. Jetting around the globe to play to stadiums of screaming fans, posing for glossy magazine shoots and adorning posters on bedroom walls of hardcore fans everywhere - all whilst looking impeccably cool. Of course, it wasn't always this way.

We all have our embarassing photos from our youth, documented that awful haircut or poor choice of shell-suit, and musicians are no different. From Jay Z and Dr Dre to Coldplay and Muse, Lady Gaga and Lana Del Rey through to Metallica and Depeche Mode, the image of the world's biggest stars has come a long way since they found success.

See how many you can recognise, and have a good laugh. Here are 15 ridiculous press shots from bands and artists in their younger days.

Embarrassing early press shots of the world's biggest bands

Comments

Artist A-Z # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z