As history has shown, crossing over from acting to music is a tricky proposition. This month David Duchovny will release his debut album, and Ed Helms’ band The Lonesome Trio’s first album is due out in June. We’ve compiled a list of the best and worst musical albums made by actors, but we’ve set a few parameters.
1. We only consider actors and actresses who are known primarily for being in movies or TV.
2. We only consider actors or actresses who have released at least one full-length album.
3. Their musical endeavor had to come as a surprise move, meaning the actor or actress can’t have arrived on the scene as a thespian and a singer. (Sorry, J Lo and Glee kids.)
10 Best Albums
10. William Shatner, The Transformed Man
Shatner set the standard for an actor making an album. Although the result is not technically what anybody might consider “good,” it’s so crazy that it would be a disservice to put it in the worst category. Captain Kirk recites Shakespeare along with contemporary pop music of the late 1960s, which neither elevates the pop music poetry nor sullies the Bard. It just puts both on this weird plane of Shatner-ness.
9. Crispin Glover, The Big Problem ? The Solution. The Solution = Let It Be
Glover reads from his own book, and raps primitively about the virtues of masturbation. Though topically it bears no resemblance to Shatner’s album, it’s tempting to group the two together. Glover is hilarious here, and as with Shatner, it’s unclear whether or not that was the intention, which is what gives both of the releases in question their vitality. Both actors imbue their cover songs with emotional instability not apparent on the originals; Shatner with “Mr. Tambourine Man” and Glover with “These Boots Are Made for Walking.” Glover had earlier used his boots to cement this unstable persona into the national consciousness on David Letterman’s guest couch. To be nearly kicked in the face by a man wearing a bad wig pretty much encapsulates what it’s like to listen to both of these albums.
8. Scarlett Johansson, Anywhere I Lay My Head
Scarlett Johansson’s first foray into music was this tribute to Tom Waits, and though it falters at times—”I Don’t Want to Grow Up” doesn’t really work when it sounds like the Pet Shop Boys—it’s a stellar effort. With Johansson’s longing voice against a background of dusty banjo, windy chimes, and haunting vocals courtesy of David Bowie, “Falling Down” really captures that “Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen” vibe, like the reflection of neon in a grimy street puddle.
7. Tony Perkins, Tony Perkins
By billing himself as Tony instead of Anthony, it seems Perkins was interested in drawing a line between his roles as actor and singer. If you’re able to separate Tony Perkins the singer from Norman Bates the psycho, this is a delightful album. Marty Paich let Perkins’ warm crooning take center stage, in front of a tasteful backdrop that’s ornate, but never distracting.
6. Clint Eastwood, Rawhide’s Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favorites
There’s not a trace of Dirty Harry or the man with no name on Cowboy Favorites. Instead you’ll find a collection of campfire lullabies, all blending into one another in a sleepy ease with prairie harmonicas and shooting star slide guitars. Clint’s croon is gentle and weary, almost as if he’s riding his horse from the saloon.
5. Paris Hilton, Paris
Almost a decade removed from the pinnacle of her debatably deserved fame, Paris holds up. When Paris Hilton spent nearly every night of her 20s clubbing, she might have actually been paying attention to the music, rather than just keeping tabs on who was paying attention to her. Paris delivers a line like, “Maybe ‘cause I’m hot today and I’m so, so, so sexy/ all the boys, all the silly boys, they wanna fight over me” with just the right amount of self-awareness.
4. Christopher Lee, Charlemagne: The Omens of Death
The next time you feel like you might be too old to rock ‘n’ roll, consider this: The actor who you probably know best for playing Saruman in The Lord of the Rings trilogy was 90 years old when he released this metal concept album. Christopher Lee had previously contributed to the soundtracks of movies he was in, but in the 2000s he began to dabble in metal collaborations. In 2010 he released a symphonic metal album called Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross, which doesn’t quite capture the intrigue of its sequel. What makes The Omens of Death work is that the guitars are harder and the triumphant riffs more plentiful. Arranged by Richie Faulkner, who makes his living as a replacement guitarist in Judas Priest, the music sounds more like straight-up hard rock than metal. Much of the material is very History Channel, with its serious narration against sounds of steeds galloping and passages in Latin, but it’s the ideal compromise between books on tape and Headbanger’s Ball.
3. Blues Brothers, Briefcase Full of Blues
On paper, this album should be horrible: two white guys who at the time were superstars for making people laugh, performing as characters who know what it’s like to have the blues. At the very least, it should be a relic that provides curious insight into what people considered entertainment in the late 1970s. But overall, the music on this debut is solid. The band—led by Paul Shaffer and featuring Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn—is on fire. The only drawback of this album is that it led to a number of embarrassing attempts at keeping the characters alive after Belushi’s death and loads of white blues bands being hired to play in bars all over America.
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