To your folks, Jimmy Dean is best known as the country music legend behind the Billboard hit “Big Bad John.” To your kids, Jimmy Dean is the guy who made sausage. So in honor of Jimmy Dean’s death on Sunday (Jimmy Dean died while eating in front of his TV), here’s a list of the top 5 music stars who’ve also shone in the food industry.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? Jimmy Dean and wife Donna Meade Dean had three children (that’s Jimmy with sons Garry and Robert, above, and with daughter Connie, below) and two grandchildren, and music is a fickle business. Careers come and go, contracts go bad, agents get shady, and today, with the electronic revolution, making money off of music has become an even more convoluted, unpredictable process. If a musician wants to ensure he amasses enough of a fortune for his kids and grandkids to live in comfort, a second career makes sense. So today, I laud these Musicians Who’ve Conquered the Food (and Drink) Business:

1. George Jones. On the road to becoming a country legend, George Jones was frequently a guest on The Jimmy Dean Show. Given these close Dean ties, Jones takes the top spot. Like Dean, Jones is a sausage king. His line of George Jones Country Sausage includes links and bacon, and the company also offers “White Lightening” bottled water.

2. Moby. Moby takes the number 2 spot because he actually created a product that I buy on a regular basis. He’s the man behind TeaNY bottled iced tea, based on the tea brewed at his vegetarian cafe, TeaNY, in NYC.

3. Sandra Bullock. Okay, she’s not a musician, but she loves music towns (Austin and New Orleans), which means I have a hard time believing that music isn’t in her blood. As for her food experience: Sandra’s show-biz career doesn’t seem at risk, and never has, so her food foray seems truly to be based on a love of nourishment. She’s owned Bess Bistro, in Austin, Texas, since 2006 (Jimmy Dean, too, was a Texan). Bess Bistro is an eclectic, globe-spanning eatery that Bullock turned eco-friendly in 2008. No word on how often she’ll be there now that she and baby Louis have relocated to New Orleans.

4. Justin Timberlake. Like Sandra Bullock, he’s a restaurant entrepreneur. Unlike most stars who start restaurants, his (and Bullock’s!) have staying power. His NYC spot, Southern Hospitality BBQ, features his own family favorites, including desserts from his grandmother’s recipe stack.

5. Sammy Hagar. The Red Rocker’s Cabo Wabo tequila started as a house drink at his resort in Caob San Lucas, Mexico. These days, Cabo Wabo an international brand (147,000 cases were sold last year) that looks to be around as long as Jimmy Dean sausages. That’s good news for his four kids (from two marriages), Aaron, Andrew, Kama, and Samantha.

Got more to add? Let me know in the comments below!

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