15 famous musicians and their vinyl collections

It's one of the few professions where there's no such thing as a busman's holiday, but vinyl may not be the medium of choice for every artist when they're listening to music. For the following 15 musicians (and one very special DJ), though, we've the photographic evidence that proves it to be true.

Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix's London flat was recently opened to the public. There, at 23 Brook Street, he became fascinated by the fact George Frideric Handel once lived close by, and went on to add a mighty arsenal of the German composer's works to his record collection.

Elvis Presley

Elvis's record collection, some of which is now on show at Graceland, included rock 'n' roll, gospel, classical and comedy albums, and even other artists' tributes to his own work.

David Bowie

When Bowie sifted through his 2,500-strong record collection to pick out 25 of his favourites for Vanity Fair in 2003, the resulting list was diverse as the man's own work. Think John Lee Hooker and The Velvet Underground via The Incredible String Band and Richard Strauss.

Iggy Pop

Turning 70 the day before this year's Record Store Day, Iggy's had a fair few creative transformations of his own. Listeners to his Radio 6 Music shows won't need telling his music taste has remained fittingly eclectic.

John Lennon & Paul McCartney

The Beatles have just one vinyl release for this Record Store Day (a limited-edition 7in of Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever), but The Fab Four are represented elsewhere too: Outkast's Andre 3000 is releasing his cover of All Together Now on 7in, and there's a 12in of Mortimor's 1969 single On Our Way Home, which was at the time an unreleased Beatles track.

Bob Marley

There are a few photos in this gallery of musicians looking infuriatingly cool with their vinyl - see Dylan and Gainsbourg below - but this one of Marley trumps the lot for us.

Joe Strummer

This month marks the 40th anniversary of the release of The Clash's self-titled debut LP, a record that caught Strummer in a marginally less docile mood than this particular photograph.

Bob Dylan

Now's the time to play a game of 'Where's Bob?'. See how many of Dylan's records you can spy in the other 14 photos on this list.

Tom Jones

Given the stories he tells of his career, and the names of musical icons he perennially drops, Jones could probably have his record collection double up as a Filofax.

Marc Bolan

We picked out Marc Bolan & T.Rex: Live 1977 as one of the most drool-worthy releases for this year's Record Store Day. Add it to your shopping list.

Serge Gainsbourg

There's sadly no Gainsbourg vinyl among this year's Record Store Day releases, but you can still find one of the 500 copies of Serge Gainsbourg et la Cinéma from 2015 knocking around the web. To be listened to only with copious amounts of wine and numerous cigarettes.

Patti Smith

Vinyl records, as much as books and poetry, play a pivotal part in the memoirs and memories of Patti Smith. Her eclectic taste was likely in part due to having a mother into rock 'n' roll, and a father who loved classical: "When I was 11 years old, I liked Puccini as much as Little Richard. They both made sense to me."

Paul Weller

"I'm a big record fan," says Weller. "I haven't really got any other hobbies. Just playing records or buying records." Evidently.

Robert Plant

Vinyl was what formed the initial bond between Plant and Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page: "I looked through his records one day when he was out and I pulled out a pile to play, and somehow or other they happened to be the same ones he was going to play when he got back, to see whether I liked them," he told The Guardian in 2014. "It just worked from there."

John Peel

The John Peel Archive is currently in the process of going through Peel's 106,000 LPs and singles and putting them online: the perfect way to celebrate the life of a British music icon.