5 Singers With Little (Or No) Experience With Instruments: Morrissey, Ozzy Osbourne, and more

If someone wants to become a musician, the very first step most people take is learning an instrument. However, these five singers found incredible fame and success, despite the fact that they have very little experience (or in some cases, no experience at all) playing a musical instrument.

1. Morrissey

In the video for the Smiths' single "How Soon is Now?" there's a brief clip of Johnny Marr teaching Morrissey how to play guitar. Morrissey must not have kept up with it, because he remains a solely a singer, not an instrumentalist. In fact, the only instance of Morrissey playing an instrument in the studio is the Smiths' "Death of a Disco Dancer," in which he atonally plays some piano during the song's noisy climax.

2. Henry Rollins

Not only does Henry Rollins not play an instrument, he's not even really a singer, and he'd be the first to tell you that. As the vocalist for Black Flag and Rollins Band, Rollins has two modes: shouting himself hoarse, or spoken word vocals. As of last year, Rollins has retired from touring with his band, instead focusing on other projects such as his spoken word (or "stand up") performances.

3. Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne just might be the luckiest person in rock history. He doesn't play any instruments (other than harmonica), his band mates write his music for him (sometimes even the lyrics), and though he has a distinctive voice, he's not really much of a singer. He wrote some great melodies for Black Sabbath, but other than that, he has about as much input into his own music as a Top 40 pop star.

4. Matt Berninger

Though the National is a band full of extremely talented and knowledgeable musicians, with guitarist Bryce Dessner even being a classical composer, lead vocalist and lyricist Matt Berninger has no knowledge of music theory at all. According to an interview from 2010, he claims that he "can't even play a tambourine."

5. Michael Stipe

Throughout R.E.M.'s 31-year career, most of the band's music was written and performed by bassist Mike Mills and guitarist Peter Buck, with drummer Bill Berry making occasional contributions until his departure in 1997. However, singer Michael Stipe rarely ever contributed musically, instead sticking to vocals, lyrics, and melodies. Though he admitted to Rolling Stone that he "can't play an instrument to save (his) life," he recently shared his first song since the breakup of R.E.M. in 2011.

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Michael stipe, R.E.M., Matt Berninger, The National, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Henry Rollins, Black Flag, The Smiths, Morrissey