First, I don't think anyone in Green Day has a PhD.

Second, I wasn't surprised because she was a women, or a musician, or because she was part of the grunge scene. I know there are lots of smart women, and lots of smart women in music. I wasn't saying anything about a correlation between gender and intelligence or professions and intelligence. I was suprised because she's Courtney Love, and most of what I've read and seen of her prior to this makes her seem like an idiot. And this article seemed well-thought out, thus surprising me.

My bad about Green Day -- it was the Offspring I was thinking about (can't blame me, they're almost interchangeable as bands). On the other hand, rockers with PhDs:

Dexter Holland from Offspring (molecular biology, but dropped out with a masters)

Greg Gaffin from Bad Religion (zoology, 2007)

Brian May from Queen (astrophysics)

James Lilja from Offspring (medical degree, not PhD)

Sterling Morrison from the Velvet Underground (medieval literature, 80s)

Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter of Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers has worked for NASA or the NSA on missile defense systems or something like that.

"Some person worked for some agency on something, or something"? Thanks for the well-researched comment.

Tom Sholz, guitarist from Boston -- MS in Engineering from MIT. Guitar Hero and Nerd. The only one in captivity?

I've done a lot of work for Dexter Holland in the past (and a little for Bad Religion but I never met Graffin) and I can vouch for him being a seriously smart guy.

Accomplished pilot, small business owner and inventor (several patents on LBS stuff from early 90s).

Juli Crockett of the Evangenitals is only an overdue (philosophy) dissertation away (and now that she's pregnant she may never get the damn thing finished).

I don't think the issue is that she's a wild woman from the era of grunge, but rather she was addicted to heroine and cocaine for a while.

People use drugs, the mild ones and the strong ones (including alcohol), in every class. Rich or poor, smart or dumb. Some get addicted, others find some other interests in life.

The two might go hand in hand...