Does the man who took one of the steepest, most public falls from grace in recent sports history have a new career path in the works?
Possibly, but judging from his trepidation about playing the drums for an Austin, Texas audience of 10,000 people, disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong won’t be moving on to the music world any time soon.
The founder of the Livestrong Foundation took to Twitter to tell what fans he has left what it felt like to play the drums at a recent reggae festival in his hometown.
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New gig? Lance Armstrong may have gotten a new job, for one night anyway, when he played drums for a reggae group in Austin, Texas
‘Helluva good time sitting in with @LanceHerbstrong 2night @AustinReggae,’ Armstrong tweeted April 20.
To clarify, Armstrong shared the stage that night with a reggae group that cribbed its name from the former Tour de France champ, known as Lance Herbstrong.
‘Drumming in front of 10,000 peeps had me more than a little freaked,’ he went on to tell his nearly 4 million followers.
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The New York Daily News reports Armstrong played four songs with the playfully named group, including Musical Youth's 1982 hit ‘Pass the Dutchie.’
Armstrong’s dance card, or drum card, rather, is likely quite empty these days compared to the hectic schedule he once kept as a successful businessman and the world’s foremost cyclist.
Once a common sight on magazine covers and the Hollywood social scene, the cancer survivor has kept a low profile since his tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey last January in which he admitted to using performance enhancing drugs to help him win all seven of his Tour de France championships.
Lance Armstrong plays drums for 10,000 people at Texas reggae...
Nervous: Armstrong appeared jittery before his performance to a crowd of 10,000 and tweeted his apprehensions
Relief: Before long, though, the fallen champion looked very comfortable in his unlikely new role
Since then, the former athlete’s name has mainly been tied to negative media headlines.
Facing several multi-million dollar lawsuits, many speculated Armstrong’s April sale of his 7,850-square-foot mansion in Austin was at least partially a bid to defer mounting legal costs.
Also this month, Armstrong, who is banned for life from competing in any Olympic sport, was preparing to race in a swimming competition that did not test its entrants for performance enhancing drugs.
Upon learning of Armstrong’s intention, the International Swimming Federation banned him from the event and from all future events that lay within their purview.
Competitive sports, it seems, are not likely to be part of Armstrong’s future.
So, perhaps a new life as a reggae drummer is a smart choice for Armstrong, if a rather odd one.