Curated playlist

People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Travis WillinghamAt six feet four inches, Travis Willingham kept losing on-camera acting parts. His agent steered him back to voice work.
Nikolas CruzNikolas Cruz told a psychologist that he chose Valentine's Day for his attack because he believed no one loved him. On the 14th of February 2018, Cruz walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where he had once been a student, and…
Justin TimberlakeJustin Timberlake was 11 years old when he appeared on the television show Star Search and sang country songs under the name Justin Randall. The boy from Memphis, Tennessee would one day be dubbed the Prince of Pop. Billboard would name…
Tyler, the CreatorAt the age of seven, Tyler Gregory Okonma, known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, was already making albums that did not exist. He pulled the covers out of CD cases and made new ones for imaginary records, each with a tracklist and…
Doja CatIn August 2018, Doja Cat uploaded a homemade music video in which she fantasized about being a cow. Within a week it had passed three million views. The American rapper, singer and producer was born Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, and the…
Paris HiltonParis Hilton became so inescapable in 2007 that parts of the American press tried to stop mentioning her. The Associated Press attempted to leave her out for the week of the 19th of February 2007. On the 26th of June 2007, host Mika…
Mark RuffaloMark Ruffalo has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which ties a record. Each nomination came for a different kind of man. Ruffalo is an American actor and producer, and the road to that record was…
Robbie WilliamsRobbie Williams walked onto a stage at Knebworth on the 1st of August 2003 and faced a crowd of 125,000 people. He then did it again on the 2nd and the 3rd. Three consecutive nights, with that many people each time, made it the biggest…
RosalíaRosalía Vila Tobella, born on the 25th of September 1992 and known by her first name alone, was fifteen when she competed on the Spanish television show Tú Sí Que Vales. The judges did not select her. Today she is a Spanish…
Demi LovatoDemi Lovato, an American singer, songwriter and actress, sang the national anthem at Super Bowl LIV in 2020. Eighteen years earlier, in 2002, Lovato was a child playing a character named Angela on the children's series Barney & Friends.…
ND StevensonA class assignment at art school became the webcomic Nimona. It later became a National Book Award finalist.
Sam Bankman-FriedSam Bankman-Fried played League of Legends while pitching investors. Sequoia later put in more than $200 million.
Joe WalshJoe Walsh ran for President of the United States in 1980 on a platform of "Free Gas For Everyone." He promised that if he won, "Life's Been Good" would become the new national anthem. He was only 32, three years short of the 35 the office…
Tom HollandTom Holland, the English actor, has led films that together have grossed more than $9.9 billion worldwide, according to The Numbers. That total places him among the highest-grossing film actors of all time. In 2019 he appeared on the…
The WeekndThe Weeknd is the stage name of Abel Tesfaye, a Canadian singer-songwriter born on the 16th of February 1990. The spelling is deliberate. Tesfaye chose the name because he had left home on a weekend, then dropped the last 'e' to avoid…
Halsey (singer)Halsey, the stage name of Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, once looked at a bank account holding nine dollars. She spent it on a four-pack of Red Bull. The caffeine kept her awake for two or three days, because she judged sleeping somewhere…
Liam PayneLiam Payne, the English singer and songwriter who lived from 1993 to 2024, once performed in front of 26,000 people at a Wolverhampton Wanderers football match. He was still a child, and almost nobody beyond his home area knew his name.…
Nicholas GalitzineNicholas Galitzine, the English actor whose surname is pronounced GAL-it-seen, once ate food worth 4000 calories every single day. The reason was a role that demands an outsized physique: He-Man, hero of the live action film Masters of the…
Ryan GoslingRyan Gosling was suspended in grade one for throwing steak knives at classmates.
Simone BilesA day-care field trip first brought six-year-old Simone Biles into a gymnastics gym. She now has 11 Olympic medals.
Lily AllenIn the months before her debut album, almost nobody outside her record label's A&R department knew who Lily Allen was. Even so, 500 limited edition 7-inch vinyl copies of her song "LDN" were rush-released, and they resold for as much as…
Adam LevineAdam Levine was twelve years old when he played his first professional gig at The Troubadour. He was so nervous that he played with his back to the audience. Today he is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and only continuous member of the…
Jackie ChanOn the 25th of June 2013, Jackie Chan had to announce that he was still alive. A hoax Facebook page, created a few days earlier, had claimed that he was dead. Several people contacted him to congratulate him on a recent engagement. Soon…