Vocal Points: Actors Turned Singers

posted in: Features • Pop

There are incredibly talented people all over the world who spend their lives pursuing a single goal: musical success. These dedicated souls spend day after day making and promoting their music in the hope that one day they will finally make it, and be able to make a living off their music. And despite how badly they want to reach their goals, many of them never achieve the success they crave. Yet, there are plenty of less-talented artists making millions off their mediocre music every day. How, is this possible? The answer is fame.

While historically, singing and acting went hand in hand because many acting roles were in opera or musical theater, today this is no longer the case. TV and movie stars can make a fine living for themselves without having any musical training. But instead of sticking to their theatrical roots, a growing number of actors and actresses decide to pursue music careers, simply because they have an audience readily available. Some of these cross-over artists are incredible, but many others are just incredibly bad. And it begs the question, would these stars have any followers if they were known solely for their musical talent?

An example which comes immediately to mind is Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy had incredible success with the Star Trek series, and while he has no particular talent when it comes to singing, he was approached by a record label to record five albums and capitalize on the shows success. Fellow Trekkie William Shatner followed a similar pattern, releasing a series of albums where he mostly speaks the lyrics, rather than actually singing. The only reason either of them had any takers for their “music” is due Star Trek‘s extremely loyal fan base.

It seems that almost anyone will jump onto the music bandwagon, in hopes of increasing their revenue stream. Hilary Duff, who started out on Disney Channel’s Lizzie McGuire, used her success to start a singing career as did Miranda Cosgrove, whose various TV and movie appearances eventually turned into recording music. And even Leighton Meester, who hit the jackpot with her role on Gossip Girl, jumped on board with a couple tracks and a guest appearance on Cobra Starship‘s “Good Girls Go Bad”. In addition, Meester’s Country Strong co-star Gwyneth Paltrow was came close to landing a record contract with Atlantic after the film’s release. And Jeff Bridges made a musical name for himself after his star role in Crazy Heart. Just goes to show how big the benefits of fame can be. While none of these actors’ music is straight-up bad, it is for the most part is undeserving of all the attention it is/has been receiving.

This is not to say that actors can never produce great music. It is absolutely possible for an actor to be an equally talented musician or singer. Zooey Deschanel is a great example of a well-known actress who has also been taken seriously as a musician for her work with She & Him, a collaborative project with M. Ward. Another great example: Drake. While he started his career as an actor on the Canadian show Degrassi, he is now a respected name in the hip hop world.

There is no real way to tell whether any of these stars would have their success without their acting fame, but it is clear that these actors really need to prove themselves in order to be taken seriously. Can you think of another outstanding actor-turned-singer? Share your ideas here.