10 Rock Stars Who Never Wanted To Be Famous

It's almost disheartening hearing how much Rivers Cuomo wanted to be a rock star in his younger years. As we can hear from some of Cuomo's first musical incarnations, it was clear that he wanted to be one of the macho rock stars from the '80s, whose amazing technical skills gave them money and fame around the world though. Once Weezer came out though, Cuomo learned really fast that this life was not all it was cracked up to be.

For as weird and nerdy as Weezer's self-titled debut was for its time, the raw emotion ended up striking a nerve with the public, sending these pop punk kids into the stratosphere amid the death of Kurt Cobain. As the hectic touring schedule went on though, it was clear that Cuomo was not dealing with fame particularly well, getting more tired of the media hassle every single day.

The resulting follow-up Pinkerton is pretty much a document of Cuomo's frail state of mind, as he tries to come to terms with achieving the dreams that he wanted as a kid and realizing it's not what he wants. Though the album is heralded as a classic now, the lambasting it got in its time proved so harsh that Cuomo basically became a hermit shortly afterward, breaking up Weezer and not returning for 5 years. For as fun sounding as Weezer can be at the best of times, the sad spiral of Cuomo in the late '90s serves as a cautionary tale for those not quite ready for the big time.