By Jessica Wedemeyer
5:00pm PDT, May 17, 2022
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Join Wonderwall.com as we take a look back at what some of our all-time favorite rock stars looked like during their early years in the music business, starting with this Grammy, Oscar and Emmy winner, who turns 57 on May 17, 2022… Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, pictured here at 26 performing on a Lollapalooza tour stop in 1991 — two years after he released the influential debut album "Pretty Hate Machine" — has found even more success making music for films and TV shows in recent years. He's won best original score Academy Awards for his work on "The Social Network" and "Soul" and an Emmy for his "Watchmen" score on top of four Grammys.
Now keep reading to see more rock stars when they were young…
RELATED: The most iconic rock couples through the years
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Your eyes are not deceiving you — that's Bono! The U2 frontman, seen here performing at New York City's Madison Square Garden in 1985 — about nine years after his band formed in their native Ireland — once rocked a wild mullet. U2 was just two years shy of releasing their Grammy-winning 1997 album, "Joshua Tree," at the time.
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Scotland-born, America-raised musician David Byrne is seen here performing in Atlanta in 1978 at 26 — three years after starting Talking Heads with drummer Chris Frantz and bassist Tina Weymouth. Five years later, the band, which by then also included Jerry Harrison on keyboard and guitar, released their mainstream hit "Burning Down the House."
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Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose is the hard rock band's only original member these days. He's seen here looking particularly baby-faced early in his career, which kicked off in the mid-'80s.
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Robert, is that you?! A 20-year-old Robert Smith — the frontman for The Cure — posed for this portrait in 1979, the same year the band released their debut studio album, "Three Imaginary Boys."
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Look at that baby face! Mark Hoppus, blink-182's bassist, co-lead singer and co-founder was 29 when this photo was taken in 2001 — the same year his band released their hit album "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket."
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Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong was a 22-year-old bleached-blonde babe when this photograph was taken in 1994 — the same year his band's Grammy-winning third studio album, "Dookie," was released.
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Unforgettable! The late, great Eddie Van Halen rocked long hair and a piercing stare in this portrait from late 1978 — the same year his band, Van Halen, dropped their self-titled debut studio album. He was 23 at the time.
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Aww! Nirvana drummer, Foo Fighters founder and two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Dave Grohl was still in his 20s when he posed for this portrait sometime in the early '90s. (Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain died in April 1994, a few months after Dave turned 25.)
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In this shot from 2001, Travis Barker is a few tattoos short of the artist we know and love today! The blink-182 drummer — pre-shaved head — was just 25 at the time. Three months earlier, the trio released their hit "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket" album.
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Tom DeLonge was a total pop-punk heartthrob in the '90s when he was in blink-182. The band's co-founder, former lead guitarist and co-lead singer was three days shy of his 25th birthday in this photo snapped in 1999 — the same year his band released their first mainstream hit album, "Enema of the State."
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Thom Yorke was just 25 when he posed for this portrait in 1993 — the same year his band, Radiohead — which he formed as a teen at boarding school in Oxford, England — released their debut album, "Pablo Honey," featuring the hit single "Creep."
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Patti Smith, is that you?! The music star is seen here in 1976, a year after she released her punk classic debut album, "Horses."
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In 1994, a 27-year-old Billy Corgan performed on stage with his rock band the Smashing Pumpkins in his hometown of Chicago.
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That hair! Eric Clapton was in his early 20s when he was snapped with a female companion during a photo shoot with his band, Cream, sometime in the late '60s. (He was just 23 when the band's final album, "Goodbye," dropped in early 1969!)
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With his long mane of hair and extra-wide grin, Steven Tyler is unmistakable anywhere, anytime! The Aerosmith frontman was in his late 20s in this snap from 1976.
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Bruce Springsteen, is that you?! The Boss was just a baby when he posed for this portrait circa 1970. He would've been in his early 20s at the time. (He dropped his debut studio album, "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.," in 1973.)
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We see now where all those Harry Styles comparisons come from! Mick Jagger is a dead ringer for the former One Direction singer in this snap taken outside an airport in London in 1964 — the same year his band released their debut studio album. The Rolling Stones frontman was just 20 at the time.
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Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth was all hair in this portrait from October 1978, the same month he turned 24. Earlier that year, his band dropped their self-titled debut studio album.
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Morrissey fronted the English rock band The Smiths from 1982 to 1987. He's seen here with bandmate Johnny Marr in 1982 — two years before their self-titled debut album was released.
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My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way was 27 when this photograph was taken! He's seen here performing during the Nintendo Fusion Tour in 2004 — four months after the band's second studio album, the triple-platinum "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge," debuted.
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"Margaritaville" singer Jimmy Buffett is seen here circa 1970 when he was in his mid-20s.
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Belinda Carlisle — the lead singer of the Go-Go's — posed for this portrait in 1986 when she was in her 20s.
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Jane Wiedlin, seen here in 1981, was the rhythm guitarist in the all-female band The Go-Go's — a pioneering force in new wave pop music.
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The hair! The makeup! The floral-print skin-tight pants! This is how we'll always remember Tommy Lee. The Mötley Crüe drummer was just 22 when he posed for this portrait in Tokyo in the summer of 1985, a month after his band released their "Theatre of Pain" album.
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Roger Daltrey of The Who is seen here during a taping of "Ready, Steady Go" in the mid-'60s. It was a busy decade for the British rock band — they released five albums including 1965's "My Generation" and 1967's "The Who Sell Out."
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Liam Gallagher — who's seen here in London circa 1994 during Oasis's early years — fronted the band from 1991 to 2009. After Oasis broke up, he went on to form and front another rock band, Beady Eye, which stayed together until 2014.
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The Prince of Darkness didn't look so dark while posing in London in 1975. Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne was in his late 20s in this baby-faced snap!
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We barely recognize Stevie Nicks in this portrait from 1978! At the time, the Fleetwood Mac singer was already 30 and more than a decade into her career. The band's magnum opus, "Rumours," actually debuted the previous year.
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Who could forget the iconic all-female rock group The Runaways? The band's lead guitarist, Lita Ford (seen here performing in 1977), wasn't even 20 when this photo was taken!
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Keith Richards was just old enough to drink legally in the United States in this snapshot from 1964 — the year the Rolling Stones guitarist turned 21 and his band released their debut studio album.
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We'd recognize the late, great David Bowie anywhere — at any time! Ziggy Stardust was still a teenager in this portrait from 1964. It would be three more years before his self-titled debut studio album dropped.
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He was just a baby! In mid-1982 — a few years before he joined Guns N' Roses — a 16-year-old Slash was photographed playing with his very first band, Tidus Sloan, during a lunch break at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles.
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Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts died in August 2021 at 80. The legend is seen here in a snapshot from 1963, early in his career with the band.
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Joan Jett sported her signature shag 'do and a whole lot of attitude while performing with The Runaways in London in October 1976 — a month after her 18th birthday and four months after the all-female band dropped their self-titled debut studio album.
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The world lost Prince far too soon, and yet the iconic artist appeared practically immune to aging. He looked nearly the same performing in New York City in 1981 as he did when he died at 57 in 2016.
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Just look at how young he was! The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr is seen here during the band's Christmas concert in 1963. They released two albums that year: "Please Please Me" and "With the Beatles."
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Behold: An extremely rare photo of Gene Simmons without his iconic KISS makeup from early in his career! The Demon was in his early 30s when he was snapped looking fresh-faced in Munich, Germany.
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Paul Westerberg, the lead singer of The Replacements, is seen here during a performance in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1989. That year marked the release of "Don't Tell a Soul," the band's sixth studio album.
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Pat Benatar rocked a spectacularly late-'70s ensemble during a portrait session in Los Angeles in late 1979. She was 26 at the time and had just dropped her debut studio album, "In the Heat of the Night," a few months earlier.
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Chrissie Hynde, who formed the British American rock group the Pretenders in 1978 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 — is seen here performing in the '70s.
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Siouxsie Sioux famously fronted the rock band Siouxsie and The Banshees. The singer-songwriter, who hails from London, rocked her signature eye makeup in this 1977 photo taken when she was 20.
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Is it any wonder he won Gwen Stefani's heart?! Gavin Rossdale smoldered in this snap from 1996, the year his band Bush dropped their sophomore album, "Razorblade Suitcase" — the same year the English rocker turned 31.
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Courtney Love, who fronted the alt-rock band Hole, came to fame as a force in the grunge scene. She's seen here performing in London in 1995.
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Alice Cooper dropped his shock-rock persona for this 1973 portrait. He was in his mid-20s at the time.
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Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis is seen here at the premiere of Oliver Stone's "JFK" in late 1991 — three months after his band's hit song "Give It Away" dropped.
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Matt Bellamy sure has grown up since this portrait from the year 2000! The Muse frontman was in his early 20s at the time, and his band was fresh off dropping their debut studio album, "Showbiz," the previous year.
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Who's that girl? It's Debbie Harry! The Blondie frontwoman was in her early 30s when she was pictured smiling wide following a performance in New York in 1978 — the same year her band's "Parallel Lines" album dropped.
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A baby-faced Shirley Manson looked ready to rock in this portrait from 1996. The Garbage frontwoman was about 30 at the time. Her band had just released their self-titled debut album the previous year.
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Quick reminder that Jimmy Page hasn't always had white hair! In 1966 — two years before he founded Led Zeppelin — the guitarist rocked a mop of brunette locks during a portrait session with his first band, The Yardbirds, in the Detroit area. He was just 22 at the time.
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Rod Stewart is seen here sometime in the 1960s. In 1969, the rocker — who during the decade was a member of the Dimensions, Steampacket, Shotgun Express and the Jeff Beck Group — released "An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down," his first solo studio album. In 1970, he started fronting the band Faces.
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Bret Michaels without a bandana?! Yep! The Poison frontman went without his signature accessory while performing with his band in late 1988, the same year they released their hit sophomore album, "Open Up and Say… Ahh!" He was 25 at the time.
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Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins is seen here performing on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in 2002 — about a year after the release of his band's iconic "Bleed American" album.
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Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young is seen here in 1970. That same year, he released his debut self-titled solo studio album.
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Chris Barron — who's fronted the Spin Doctors since 1998 — was in his mid-20s when this portrait was taken in 1993.
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Singer-songwriter Grace Slick is most recognized for being a vocalist and pianist in the San Francisco-bred rock band Jefferson Airplane. She's seen here in 1970.
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How does Ronnie Wood somehow look exactly the same now as he did back in 1973?! The Rolling Stones rocker was in his mid-20s in this portrait.
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Who didn't love the Goo Goo Dolls back in the day?! The rock band from upstate New York was founded by singer-songwriter and lead guitarist John Rzeznik (pictured here in 1996 at 31). Their biggest hit, "Iris," debuted in 1998 and earned the band three Grammy Award nominations including song of the year and record of the year.
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Joe Perry posed for a portrait in his mansion in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, in September 1979 — the same month the Aerosmith guitarist turned 29. Two months later, the band dropped their "Night in the Ruts" album. Joe only recorded half of it, though: He left the group earlier that year amid a feud with his bandmates. (He ultimately returned five years later.)
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The influential indie band Sonic Youth was fronted by Thurston Moore, who's seen here in 1996. A year later, he released his debut solo album, "Psychic Hearts."
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Be still our hearts! The late, great Chris Cornell looked too cute during a portrait session in New York City in late 1989, the year his band Soundgarden released their sophomore album, "Louder Than Love." The singer, who was 25 at the time, later fronted an equally popular group: Audioslave.
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Iconic! Lenny Kravitz, who was in his early 20s at the time, wore his hair in dreadlocks while rocking out circa 1988. (His debut studio album, "Let Love Rule," dropped in 1989.) In 2018, he told GQ of his signature 'do from early in his career, "That was who I was, that's what Lenny Kravitz was." He also revealed that it was ex-wife Lisa Bonet who cut off his locks. "It was very freeing, at that time," he said. "It was a trip to be able to let that go and continue, without this thing that people identify you with. And it's good to do that — challenge your own image and how people identify you."
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The Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser were in their early 20s when they posed for this pic in 1983. The Scottish alternative rock band released their debut studio album, "Garlands," one year earlier.
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Kim Thayil, who was in his early 30s when this photo was taken at Lollapalooza in 1992, was the lead guitarist and co-founder (alongside the late Chris Cornell) of the iconic Seattle rock band Soundgarden.
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Gordon Gano, the lead singer and guitarist for the Violent Femmes, is seen here during a performance in Minneapolis in 1984 when he was 21.
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Stephen Malkmus fronted the indie rock band Pavement from 1989 until their breakup in 1999. The Los Angeles native is pictured here performing on stage in 1992 when he was 26.
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Nikki Sixx rocked long hair and a whole lot of guyliner during a portrait session in Tokyo in July 1985 — a month after his band released their "Theatre of Pain" album. The Mötley Crüe bassist was 26 at the time.
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Which rock star was front and center during a funeral-themed photoshoot with one of his earliest bands, The Hentchmen, in Detroit in 1998? Jack White, who was in his early 20s at the time. The following year, he and Meg White released their debut self-titled studio album as The White Stripes.
