By Ali Ikram
Author Dan Brown wanted to be a singer songwriter before selling ridiculous numbers of books after writing the Da Vinci code.
While Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood wanted to be a painter.
British comedian Lenny Henry who plays Wellington on Wednesday shared the story of his first career with 3 News.
You'll find Lenny Henry’s work in the comedy section, somewhere between Dick Gregory, "we don't serve black people here - it's ok I don't eat them", and the two Ronnies.
But before he was one of Britain’s most successful comedians Henry was one of the country's least successful musicians - a past he mines deeply in show cradle to rave.
"I think music is a perfect metaphor and allegory for all kinds of things,” he says. You can talk about music in anyway and get to any subject."
Though he is attracting infamy for stopping the music - Rolf Harris - at the Queen's Jubliee concert.
"He didn't even get to ‘long day past war came so fast gaily’, he didn't even get to that part."
"The director said ‘wrap it up Stevie’s ready he's not staying’. ‘If you're not finished,’ I said ‘Rolf I’m so sorry’, and they started to boo me."
Piers Morgan tweeted” “still seething about Lenny Henry wrecking Rolf's big moment like that - who the hell does he think he is?”
But Henry wasn’t happy about doing it either.
"I thought ‘this a predominant white audience if they were wearing pointy hats and carrying burning crosses I’d be toast’."
But in New Zealand he's not just playing for laughs at the end of the show. He tells his audience to sing to their kids.
"I sang to my daughter, played her songs and told her I love her and my parents didn't do that. They came from an agrarian background in Jamaica. There was lots of laughter, we did our stuff through food not music."
In between touring Henry's doing a PhD, expecting to be Dr Lenworth Henry CBE in four years time.
3 News