Great thread.
I just picked up learning to play bass until the electronics went out on it (don't feel bad for it... it is a Squire and I am not a big fan of Fender basses). This will make me go and get that Ibanez semi-hollow Bass that I got my eye on.
I bought an acoustic for my wife (now ex) about a year ago. She went ahead and took lessons. The first song she had to learn was, of course, Nirvana's "Come As You Are".
For the next song, she had to pick between Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight", some Beatles track and Metallica's "Fade To Black". Never hearing any of those songs before (AT ALL... NOT AT ALL... yes she lives in a cave), she goes and picks "Fade to Black". Her response, "Wonderful is a nice enough song and the Beatles track is kinda catchy but Fade to Black seem to sound the best to me." (Again, so far from a metal fan.) Her teacher said that people get frustrated and quit when they pick this song to learn.
Well, she learned it and plays it extremely well. She went on to learn "Hotel California" and "Wish You Were Here" among others. Along with her first acoustic, she has a great Gibson Les Paul knockoff (so good is the knockoff that the company was shutdown by Gibson the next day after she got the guitar).
She might be my ex but I am extremely proud of her. If she got over her shyness and antisocial behavior, she has the chops and the charisma to be a rock star.