Sunday 7 June 2015

Another Musical Interlude

I have to admit that the number of musicians with hockey jerseys is astounding. No wonder Reebok charges $300 - they're trying to recoup all the money they give away in free threads! In all seriousness, the list is rather extensive of the musicians who have their own jerseys as fans or are provided with one by the rink they are playing as thanks for showing up. Today, HBIC has a pile of new musicians in hockey jerseys as the phenomenon seems to be speeding up rather than slowing down. I don't know if hockey is the "cool and hip" sport for musicians to be supporting at this point, but it doesn't seem that there's been a lull in the pictures people are posting and sending in. If you have an image, send it my way via this email address, and I'll credit you accordingly for the find! On with the show!

We'll start with a man who is already known for his affinity for a team in the desert. The Arizona Coyotes have the support of rocker Alice Cooper in their pocket, but it appears that Cooper is more than just a random fan. He has the red jersey that the team has been wearing in recent years, but he also showed up this past season in a throwback jersey! We can now confirm that the rock legend has two different jerseys in supporting his team!

Because Toronto is a major place to stop for most bands, it's not unusual to see Leafs jerseys being worn by many musicians. The Arkells, who hail from Hamilton, Ontario, are big fans of the Leafs, though, and showed their support by wearing Leafs jerseys at a recent stop in the Big Smoke. Kudos to Leafidelity of the Hockey Futures forum for this one!

She may not be as well-known as some of the other musicians on this list, but Arlette Roxburgh-Scapino has been singing at the New Jersey Devils' games for a while now, but the Trinidadian-born songstress is quite accomplished! She also did the anthem for the New Jersey Nets before they left for Brooklyn, and she published her first single on April 8, 2014 on iTunes! It's rare when HBIC finds an emerging singer to promote, but give Arlette a chance and listen to "Save Me". It's actually a pretty catchy tune!

I am totally out of the loop when it comes to Ansel Elgort, but he's apparently a DJ who goes by the name "Ansølo". The 21 year-old has an acting career as well, so I'd say things are working out pretty well for him on the entertainment front. The New York-born Elgort hasn't strayed far from his roots as he's attended a few New York Rangers games as a fan in appropriate gear! Leafsgirl12 of the Hockey Futures forum gets credit for this one!

State Champs are a punk band from Albany, New York, but doesn't mean they support the local minor-league team on tour. They have announced a second album for 2015 that has yet to have a track list filed, but they spent the majority of 2014 touring North America and Europe. In doing so, lead singer Derek DiScanio donned a Dallas Stars jersey and rocked the stage! Nothing like a star wearing a Star, right? Zrhutch of the Hockey Futures forum found this one.

Irene Nelson is a European and Russian singer. She broke into the scene under the name "Diana" that, coincidentally, was adopted from Diana Ross after publishing an album with the group Electro Version called "An Evening with Diana" in which her voice is likened to Ross' style. She founded the band Reflex in Germany in the 2000s and wrote several hit songs which garnered her a number of awards. In 2007, she left Reflex to pursue a solo career. This quick biography doesn't really tell you much other than Miss Nelson has had a pretty solid music career in Europe and Russia. She does, however, not hide the fact that she loves hockey and supports the Russian squad when she can!

Keith Urban is a fairly recognizable name, and his music is widely-known throughout North America. Urban plays shows all over the place, and recently stopped in Winnipeg at MTS Centre to put on a show. The crowd was into the music and really popped when Urban appeared on-stage in a Winnipeg Jets jersey! Urna has also appeared in a Nashville Predators jersey, so it appears he's creating some sort of Central Division jersey collection!

It's rare when a couple poses together with personalized jerseys, especially in the music world, but the Pittsburgh Penguins pulled double-duty when they gave country power couple Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood a pair of throwback alternates! I have rarely seen Garth Brooks in anything sports-related, but he seems to be falling into the hockey world as he has a Penguins jersey to go along with his St. Louis Blues jersey!

Carrie Underwood is not Caandian. Mike Fisher is. Those two are married and have a developing brood, so it kind of makes sense that Carrie would begin absorbing some of Mike's Canadianness. In saying that, Carrie Underwood was probably performing in Canada when Mike was still an Ottawa Senator when she decided to wear a Team Canada jersey on-stage. Gotta say that she can officially join the ranks of the Great White North anytime she likes.

I've never heard their music nor do I know anything about them, but the Google machine tells me that Doppelgangaz are a hip-hop duo consisting of rapper/producer Matter Ov Fact and rapper/producer EP. They are from Orange County, New York, so you'd expect a New York flavor to their style, right? Well, actually their style is a heck of a lot closer to the other, more famous Orange County in California. They apparently have a large following overseas in Europe and Australia, but they like to stay closer to home in their choice of dress as they have worn San Jose Sharks' colors in their videos.

Ke$ha, whose name I will never again spell with a dollar sign, has had a number of hits to her name since breaking out in 2010 with her hit "Tik Tok". I would have never guessed her to be a hockey fan based on her usual costuming and dress for concerts, but the Montreal Canadiens didn't seem to care. She can currently be seen on the TV show Rising Star as a judge as her music career seems to be on hold. Since it's a reality show, don't expect me to watch.

Finding older artists in hockey uniforms is hard simply because the jersey sale phenomenon didn't really catch on until the 1990s. There are some images out there of legends in the music with jerseys, and it always makes me happy to find them. Such is the case for Procol Harum guitarist Mick Grabham who wore a Buffalo Sabres jerseys in the 1970s! Super-awesome find by PopeInTheWoods over on the Hockey Futures forum!

If there's one genre of music that continually pops up with hockey jerseys, it's that of country singers. Luke Bryan is a well-followed man on social media and in the music world, but it appears he has an affinity for hockey as well. During his time on Long Island, he was given a New York Islanders uniform. However, he didn't pledge his loyalty to the Islanders as he was also given a Chicago Blackhawks uniform! If there's one other thing about country musicians, they show no loyalty to one team either. Leafsgirl12 of the Hockey Futures forum had Chicago image!

Do you know who Angie Miller, Janelle Arthur, Candice Glover, Kree Harrison, and Amber Holcomb are? If you're an American Idol fan, you do. These ladies made up the Top 5 finalists in Season 12 of American Idol, and one of their rewards for their hard work was to see a Los Angeles Kings game! The five finalists were seated in a luxury box at Staples Center where they enjoyed the game in style! If you are curious, the elimination went as follows in the competition: Janelle Arthur - fifth, Amber Holcomb - fourth, Angie Miller - third, Kree Harrison - runner-up, and Candice Glover won Season 12.

A lot of people know the name Toni Braxton, but her youngest sister is a fine musician as well! Tamar Braxton has released two albums and she's planning a third release on July 31, 2015! She's also a TV star, appearing on Braxton Family Values and The Real talk show, and it appears she's a Chicago Blackhawks fan! She was born in Maryland and doesn't live in Chicago, so it goes to show that you can be a fan anywhere on the planet at this point!

The other genre of music, besides country, where hockey jerseys show up often seems to be the rap and hip-hop scenes. Quincy Matthew Hanley, better known as Schoolboy Q, was born in Germany, but has since relocated to the warmer climates of California where he works his rhymes on the hip-hop scene. He's been touring, producing music, and appearing live on TV shows as a musical guest for some time now, and he recently showed up to a concert sporting the blue-and-white of the Toronto Maple Leafs! Great-looking throwback, Q!

Sean Combs. Puff Daddy. P-Diddy. Whatever name he goes by, everyone knows who he is. Combs is a megastar in the music world after writing and recording music followed by producing music, and is now a multifaceted entrepreneur in the music and fashion world. Combs obviously knows a good brand when he sees it, and the fashionable colors and look of the Chicago Blackhawks were given to him during a stop in Chicago!

Kanye West. Toronto Maple Leafs. Nothing else needs to be said.

We've seen Ozzy Osbourne in a mug shot in a St. Louis Blues t-shirt, and that was pretty strange considering he was always dressed in black during his heyday in music. It appears that another team wanted Ozzy as a fan as the Montreal Canadiens presented Ozzy with his own personalized jersey! Not sure about that three-digit number, but that's Ozzy's to deal with now.

Some will cringe at this next entry because she's had a bigger career as an actress than a singer, but there's no denying that Amanda Seyfried has a set of pipes on her. In fact, she almost chose a life as an opera singer before becoming an actress! She, of course, sang in two musicals as a part of Mamma Mia! and Les Misérables, so she's definitely using that training as an opera singer today. While she's certainly known for her acting roles, there's no denying that Miss Seyfried has a singing voice. And she's an LA Kings fan as well, so there's that too.

So there's another round of musicians in hockey jerseys, receiving hockey jerseys, holding hockey jerseys, and everything else hockey jerseys. As always, fire me more if you have pictures of artists in jerseys, and I'll post them with you getting credit!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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