The recent nepo babies discourse is shedding some light on how the insular world of music and Hollywood shuts out talented, hardworking folk in favor of rewarding those born on third base. With that said, the number of think pieces that have been pumped out about it would make you think absolutely nobody got to where they were with hard work and talent.
Even though many supposedly self-made stars had incredibly wealthy parents who could bankroll their creative careers, or were already born with connections most people will never get, there are a few genuine rags-to-riches stories sprinkled throughout popular culture, and we’ve decided to highlight them to show it isn’t purely about who you know (although, it is mostly about who you know).
If you’re keen to discover how far certain celebrities have risen in terms of fame and fortune, you have to understand where they came from in the first place. With that in mind, here are nine of the most humble celebrity childhood homes!
Rihanna
The Bajan superstar is famous enough to join the ranks of those with a single name moniker, which is always a sign of superstardom. She’s also the second-highest selling female artist of all time, the first black woman to head an LVMH brand with her brand Fenty, and was declared a National Hero of Barbados in 2018, so it’s no surprise to discover Rihanna is worth over a billion dollars. But her beginnings couldn’t be further from the iconic, high-end lifestyle that is now an indispensable part of her brand.
Growing up in a small bungalow with her parents and three half-siblings, Rihanna’s entrepreneurial spirit was honed by selling clothes with her father at various Bridgetown markets. Her dad suffered from numerous addictions and was often abusive, which meant a destabilized home life for the singer — making her musical success all the more impressive. After impressing record executives with an audition, she moved to the U.S. and went from strength to strength, becoming the icon we know today.
Jennifer Lopez
As she famously sang in her 2002 hit (or didn’t, depending on who you believe), Jennifer Lopez is from the block. Although she’s been a global superstar since the nineties, the actor and singer grew up in much less opulent surroundings than she’s probably used to after two and a half decades of incredible success. J-Lo was born and raised in the Bronx to Puerto Rican immigrants and shared a bedroom with her two sisters growing up.
By the early nineties, the star was a regular in music videos and shows like Living in Color, and in 1997 starred alongside Robin Williams in the heartwarming comedy Jack. Her big break came when she was cast in the biopic Selena, based on the life of the eponymous Latin American megastar. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination, and since then she hasn’t looked back.
Elton John
The “Candle in the Wind” singer has been a mainstay of the celebrity world for decades now, and it’s hard to associate anything but class and fame with the dazzling performer. But Elton John, born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, didn’t grow up bedecked in jewels and high-end suits, and the journey from his childhood home to selling over three hundred million records is a truly inspiring story.
Born in Pinner, which at the time was just outside of London but now falls under the English capital’s metropolitan area, John was raised in social housing by his grandparents before eventually moving in with his mom and dad. A musical prodigy, he could play classical pieces by ear before he was ten, and at age 11 won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, granting him the right to attend weekend classes to hone his skills. He ended up dropping out of school at age 17, against his dad’s wishes, to pursue his musical career, beginning as a piano player in a local pub. And, since then, the Rocket Man has only continued to surge to new heights.
Timothée Chalamet
The stratospheric rise of Timothée Chalamet is of no surprise to anybody who’s watched him kill it in films as diverse as Call Me By Your Name, The King, and Don’t Look Up. While his family background is brimming with creative types — his mother danced on Broadway, his father is a writer, and his sister is also an actor — he grew up in subsidized housing in New York. The Dune star only managed to break into the acting world after smashing an audition for the infamous Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. His future drama teacher was so impressed that he lobbied for Chalamet’s acceptance despite his poor middle school grades.
From there, Chalamet has only grown into his role as a heartthrob and superstar. His first big break was in Interstellar, but it was after Call Me By Your Name that he really rose to prominence. Not bad for a kid who grew up in a high-rise.
Leonardo DiCaprio
There are few people in the world as famous as Leonardo DiCaprio. The Titanic star is the very definition of box office and finally managed to break his Oscar’s duck after nearly two decades thanks to his captivating performance in The Revenant. Although his career seems like success after success, it all stems from years of hard graft by the actor, who famously auditioned over a hundred times without landing a role in the first year and a half of his career.
In his 2016 BAFTA acceptance speech, Leo stated, “I didn’t grow up in a life of privilege. I grew up in a very rough neighborhood in East Los Angeles.” And, taking a look at his childhood home, it’s clear to see he’s not lying. With that said, the actor was fortunate enough to have incredibly supportive parents, with his dad even telling him to stick with acting after the disastrous start to his career — and we know how well that panned out!
Drake
Some songs take a bit of artistic license with the truth, but in Drake‘s case, he really did start from the bottom. The Canadian singer grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Toronto as the child of a single mother, after his father left the family to return to America, where he was arrested and incarcerated for various drug-related charges. Back in Canada, Drake was growing into a talented hockey player, but the performing arts were where his real passion lay.
After appearing in over a hundred episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation, he began his music career in earnest, releasing several mixtapes which did well on the underground scene. His popularity exploded in 2010 with his first studio album, Thank Me Later, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. In the intervening years, he’s released hit after hit, and his star has only risen.
Justin Bieber
It’s easy to forget now that he’s the definition of a global superstar, but Justin Bieber was probably the first artist to be discovered on social media. The YouTube videos that got the then mop-haired singer noticed hit millions of views when that was still an unheard-of number, leading to his first album.
Bieber was raised by his mother in low-income housing while she worked a series of odd jobs, but showed prodigious musical talent early on. His mom originally uploaded his performances to YouTube for their friends and family, but the child performer gained a huge audience and was eventually signed off the back of his channel’s success. By the time he hit his mid-twenties, Bieber had already achieved almost everything there was to achieve in the music world. He is currently working on his seventh studio album.
Dua Lipa
The British-Albanian singer Dua Lipa had one of the most intriguing childhoods on this list, thanks to its international nature. Born in London to Kosovo Albanian refugees, she lived in cramped social housing while growing up. Although the home itself was humble, thanks to London housing being incredibly mixed it was in the upscale neighborhood of West Hampstead, where she also attended school. Music was a big part of the Lipa household, with the singer’s father having been the lead singer of a rock band.
Lipa and her family moved to Kosovo after the fledgling country declared independence, but she was soon back in London — again, in social housing — to complete her schooling. In 2013, she signed to Tap Management, and after gaining numerous accolades, she released her self-titled debut album in 2017. The next year, her single “One Kiss” smashed all sorts of chart records in the U.K., and she continues to enjoy plenty of success.
Selena Gomez
The former child star may have tasted success at an early age, but her childhood was anything but privileged. Born to a teen mother — who later divorced her father — Gomez has spoken about how the family used to search for coins under the sofa for gas money.
Thankfully, her loving grandparents were able to shoulder some of the burdens of raising a young Gomez. Her mother worked multiple jobs before the Rare singer got her first role on Barney and Friends at age ten, at which point her career took off. Lucrative Disney roles followed, as did multiple successful pop hits, taking her pretty far from her humble beginnings in Texas.