I was in a huge 90s band selling 45m albums but I stepped away from the spotlight to study Shakespeare

HE sold 45 million albums worldwide as part of huge US 90s rock band Weezer.

But musician Brian Bell - who is the rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist - spent his downtime away from the band studying and performing the works of William Shakespeare.

Brian, 54, still tours with Weezer, who are best known for their hits Say It Ain't So and Undone - The Sweater Song, but has also indulges his love of the Bard when he isn't gigging with the band.

Iowa-born Brian spent a hiatus from the band between 2003 and 2004 studying the works of the Much Ado About Nothing playwright.

He and former girlfriend Nunez swotted up on Shakespeare and other poetry theory, culminating in them starring in a production of Twelfth Night.

Brian even wrote four songs for the production, using Shakespearean language in the tunes.

The talented chap has had quite the varied career, even appearing as himself in an episode of The Simpsons in 2020, along with the rest of Weezer.

As well as Brian, the band is made up of Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson and Scott Shriner.

Their self titled debut album became a multi-platinum smash and is widely considered by many critics to be one of the best albums of the 90s.

The group have released 15 studio albums since the 90s, and their latest EP came out in December 2022.

While they were always more popular in their native US, in the UK their highest charting album was 2005's Make Believe.

It reached number 11 on the official albums charts.