In the Rich Roll podcast, the plant-powered Irish musician Tanya O’Callaghan says, “Music was never something I wanted to get into for the glory of it; I just wanted to have a platform to leverage for activism.”
And honestly, she has succeeded in doing so, given her stardom that defies the conventional rockstar lifestyle. While being a rockstar, she actively advocates and encourages a plant-based lifestyle.
Even when touring, the rockstar says she has never strayed from her plant-based lifestyle.
Mo Gawdat sarcastically called her a fake rockstar in another podcast, saying she drinks soda water during performances.
Hailing from Mullingar, a small town in Ireland, Tanya O’Callaghan has come a long way from an angry activist to someone who encourages conscious consumerism instead of a perfect vegan lifestyle while taking her musical career to a new level.
Here is the YouTube playlist of tracks from the artist Tanya O’Callaghan that you might like to hear!
Who is Tanya O’Callaghan? Everything to know about the Whitesnake bassist!
The bassist, Tanya O’Callaghan, was born on April 1, 1986, to her parents in Mullingar, Ireland. She grew up surrounded by cattle, thinking of them as her pets and even naming them.
When she was four or five, she learned how meat comes from animals, and since then, she has ventured on a plant-based journey.
Until 18, Tanya O’Callaghan worked in an animal rescue shelter, learning more about gruesome animal abuse. She recalls skipping school to volunteer at animal rescue, and everyone thought she would be working in veterinarian work.
However, Tanya says she was always into music, and her dad, like the entire town, shared the same passion.
By the age of 18, Tanya stepped into the realm of music. Talking about it to VW Music, Tanya says, “It was honestly a 180 from being a girl who works in the animal rescue shelter every hour of every day to now being a bassist.”
Tanya O’Callaghan joined her cousin’s band, then a wedding band, and then a corporate gig. She says, “It had a big ripple effect from there.”
At age 25, she left Ireland and moved to Los Angeles, California, to follow her dream of becoming a full-fledged professional bassist.
Since then, she has begun performing and collaborating with several artists and bands and has toured the globe.
Some artists Tanya performed with were Dee Snider, Stevan Adler, and Maynard Keenan. She has even performed at shows like The River Dance and The Voice.
In 2021, Tanya O’Callaghan became the bassist for the band Whitesnake after their original bassist, Michael Devin, left the band. She became the first female musician to join the band Whitesnake.
Moreover, recently, Tanya collaborated with the legend Bruce Dickinson and released a single, Rain On The Graves.
Additional Information
- Tanya O’Callaghan proudly boasts that she is the plant-based bassist on her Instagram page, with over 115k followers.
- She has produced a plant-based travel show, Derrick & Tanya’s Highway to Health, with co-host Derrick Green.
- Despite being a famous bassist, Tanya O’Callaghan does not have a dedicated Wikipedia page to her name.
