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We tend to think of musicians as being cooler than us. And while that may be true, they’re also often bigger geeks than we would imagine. Did you know, for instance, that the man who was Ziggy Stardust is always down for a good chess match? Or that Lily Allen makes delightful cushions? Can you guess which hip-hop pioneer owns 5,000 souvenir mugs? Click through to read all about famous rock stars’ nerdy obsessions — and find out which international pop star plays Scrabble with Salman Rushdie.

David Bowie plays chess

We can’t quite picture him heading up a high-school chess club, but Bowie certainly has the intelligence for the game, and his love of it is well documented. Here he is playing a match with his The Hunger co-star, Catherine Deneuve.