THE announcement this week that former Fugees member Wyclef Jean is planning to run as president of Haiti is certainly not the first time a musician has looked to trade the stage for the halls of power.
Jean, who has had a successful career both in and out of the Fugees, is looking to turn around his earthquake-ravaged homeland and rebuild it.
But how have other musicians made the transition to politicians?
Peter Garrett
AFTER a couple of decades fronting Australia's greatest politically charged rock band, it seemed a given that Midnight Oil's Peter Garrett would eventually enter government. After an unsuccessful attempt in 1984 with the Nuclear Disarmament Party, Garrett eventually signed on with the Labor Party, entering the House of Representatives in 2004. Controversy has never been far away for the muso-turned-pollie as his current standing with Labor is distinctly at odds with many of the messages he espoused in his time with Midnight Oil. Despite trashing the US in songs such as US Forces, he now toes the party line on Australia-America relations, and even though he was anti-logging and pro-environment on numerous Oils albums, he ended up supporting a paper mill in a sensitive forest area in Tasmania. For many fans, it's been a let-down and he's been labeled a turncoat, but Garrett says he's working from the inside to bring about change.
Sonny Bono
BEST known for his work with ex-wife Cher, Sonny began his musical career as a songwriter and part of producer Phil Spector team, penning songs for Sam Cooke, playing percussion and singing backing vocals. After meeting Cherilyn Sarkisian, the pair started on their path as Sonny & Cher, scoring their biggest hit with the classic love song I Got You Babe in 1965. The couple had more hits and eventually became stars of their own TV show but Sonny slowly turned his back on music and acting, becoming Mayor of Palm Springs, California in 1988. He was eventually elected to the House of Representatives in 1994, but died in a skiing accident just four years later, with his lasting legacy a bill that extends copyright laws. Another political figure worth mentioning is America's longest-serving senator Robert Byrd, who died in June. Byrd started playing fiddle at square dances in his teens and released a dubiously titled album in 1978 called US Senator Robert Byrd: Mountain Fiddler. He was also renowned for entertaining fellow senators with his renditions of "old-timey" songs.
Gilberto Gil
HAVING released more than 50 albums since the early '60s, Gilberto Gil is one of Brazil's best-known musicians. He's had huge hits in his homeland, incorporating tropicalia, reggae, Brazilian pop, reggae, samba, rock, soul, African music and traditional Brazilian music, and toured the world. In 1969 his opposition to Brazil's military government landed him in jail for three months (plus four months house arrest) and upon his release, he was forced to go into exile in London. He returned to Brazil in 1972 and continued his music and environmental activism. In 1987 he officially entered politics after being elected to a post in his home state Bahia and remained active in politics and environmental organisations throughout the '90s. This led to his appointment as Minister for Culture in 2003, despite not being a member of the ruling party. Despite his increasing political activities, Gil remained a full-time musician, juggling both careers until he resigned from government in 2008.
John Kerry
GEORGE W Bush may have won the 2004 US election, but John Kerry was way cooler. Not only did Kerry serve in Vietnam (the war with the best soundtrack), but he also played bass in a short-lived band called The Electras. The surf/garage rock group printed just 500 copies of their self-titled 1961 debut, which features Kerry's bass way-too-loud on a few tracks but is otherwise kinda cool. It was their only album and was totally forgotten about until Kerry ran for president, at which point copies started appearing on eBay and selling for over $2500. The album was re-released on CD to cash-in on the new-found interest in Kerry. And while we're talking American presidents (and almost presidents), Bill Clinton probably deserves a mention. Clinton played tenor sax in the Arkansas state band briefly before deciding on a career in politics, although he did bust out the sax on occasion as president.
Europe< p>NOT the band, the continent. Europe has always been big on musicians from a wide variety of backgrounds entering politics, especially in Finland. Among them are children's musician and folk singer Mikko Alatalo (a member of the Centre Party), jazz pianist Claes Andersson (a two-time parliamentarian), wrestler and one-off album releaser Tony Halme (a Member of Parliament who committed suicide earlier this year), and rocker Veltto Virtanen (a former independent and now True Finn Party parliamentarian). Among other Euro musos who have moved into government are 2004 Eurovision Song Contest winner Ruslana (a member of the Ukranian Parliament from '06-'07) and solo performer and influential Polish rocker Krzystof Cugowski, who helped form the band Budka Suflera in the mid-'70s before a short stint in the Polish senate in 2005.
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