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Joshua Bell

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Violinist

The Resume

    (December 9, 1967- )
    Born in Bloomington, Indiana
    Appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
    Won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra (2002)
    Named Music Director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (2011)
    Recorded violin solos for the soundtracks of ‘The Red Violin’ (1998) and ‘Angels and Demons’ (2009)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was a child prodigy.
    He was nicknamed ‘the lad with the Strad.’
    He had a son out of wedlock with an ex-girlfriend.
    In an experiment for the Washington Post, he performed incognito at a DC subway station, and collected $32.17 from passersby in 45 minutes (2007).
    He said, ‘That story went ‘round the world. When I was ill with a 103-degree temperature in Ecuador, even the doctor knew all about it.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    Growing up, he followed other interests in addition to music, such as tennis, placing fourth in a national tournament at age ten.
    He made his Carnegie Hall debut at age 17.
    He was named to People magazine’s ’50 Most Beautiful’ list (2000).
    When John Corigliano won the Oscar for Best Score for ‘The Red Violin,’ he said, ‘You could write all the notes you want, but if someone doesn’t play them like a god, they’ll never sound that way. Joshua Bell played them like a god. Thank you, Josh.’
    The article about his subway concert won a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 22 Votes: 22.73% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying