Musicians who have (or may have?) Asperger's Syndrome.

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There are 25 responses to this, but I wonder if anyone mentioned Ladyhawke. She has not only admitted to having Asperger's, but wrote a few songs about it on her second album.

it wouldn't surprise me at all if Elliott Smith had Asperger's syndrome

It's a well-known fact that Gary Numan is an aspie. I'm having trouble thinking of any others though. It just doesn't seem that being a popular musician is something that would be conducive to having Aspergers. I know that a lot of rock stars hate the massive amounts of attention they receive and become reclusive as a result, though I could see this happening to virtually anyone who has thousands of screaming fans.

Thinking about it now, Maynard James Keenan may be an aspie, and Micheal Jackson may have been as well.

Does anyone have a list of musicians who have been confirmed to have AS/HFA, or at least have self-diagnosed? I would love to see it.

Nobody was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in 1967--you could count on that!

I don't believe the diagnosis existed until 1994.

Asperger's work was only known in exclusive academic-psychological circles until about the 1980s.

Perhaps Courtney Love was diagnosed with something like "Minimal Brain Dysfunction" or "brain injury," as I was in the early 1960s.

have no idea how to delete posts so

That would have been around 1970 or so.

I think things were more progressive by then than during the 1950's or early 1960s.

There was much impetus for de-institutionalization then.

I'd be interested to know if she were placed in a special school, or a special class within a public school system.

There's one thing that didn't exist until 1973 in the US: the mandate to attempt to mainstream kids.

I'm posting in this thread for the first time in two months

Pete Townshend said John Entwistle had Asperger's and Roger Daltrey said Keith Moon had autism and savant capabilities. All of them were in the Who.

Michael Jackson obviously had Asperger's. Though people say his childhood was responsible for his eccentricity, it should be noted none of his brothers turned out like him despite being raised in the same environment.

Kurt Cobain had a disturbed childhood, and no social skills at school. He was bullied and developed an obsession with punk rock. Also, depressive disorders are often co-morbid with Asperger's. He stated often how he never fitted in; his personality was erratic before he became a drug addict.

Also, John Lennon DID NOT have Asperger's, he had Borderline Personality Disorder and Yoko Ono is obsessed with finding a cure to autism.

Didn't Kurt Cobain have bipolar disorder?

How about Van Morrison? He certainly seems to be utterly absorbed in his music, and - career-wise - marches to the beat of his own drum regardless of what his audiences or record company expect from him. Judging by interviews I've read, he also seems to be pretty much uninterested in observing even the most basic social niceties, and has been this way throughout his career (rendering it unlikely that he's merely been spoilt by fame). I think he's an even likelier candidate than Bob Dylan.