This past week, actor Jeff Bridges decided to take the ill-advised plunge that far too many of his thespian brothers and sisters have before him: He released a record. Produced by his Crazy Heart buddy T-Bone Burnett, Bridges' self-titled album sold about 13,000 copies its first week, coming in at No. 25 on the Billboard 200. Luckily for him, it was at least met with good reviews but many more before him have not been so fortunate.
Actors. When will they learn?
Here at Rocks Off, we decided to grade these actor turned musicians on a sliding scale from good to tolerable to skin-crawlingly awful. And we had to leave a few out, so feel free to let us know about it.
Zooey Deschanel: Many of us are familiar with Zooey for her unforgiving deadpan to men who want her in films like (500) Days of Summer and Elf, but Zooey is one of the few who both act and sing fairly well. With her warm vocal stylings, she has been crooning for years in jazz cabarets and with M. Ward in indie-pop duo She & Him. Also, she's got an uncanny resemblance to Katy Perry.
Drake: Life has treated Drizzy well for the past couple of years, and he's adopted Houston as his "second home" numerous times. You don't just sample "June 27" and not get loved here. But once upon a time, Aubrey brought the teen drama as wheelchair bound Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi. We're glad he stuck with rhyming, but he is appearing in the next Ice Age film along with Young Money labelmate Nicki Minaj. Hey, at least he could say he took one, on TV anyway.
Ryan Gosling: Is there anything R-Gos can't do? Academy Award nominated-actor. Fight interloper. Dog lover. Ab enthusiast. Musician? Yes, he does that too. He appears with friend Zach Shields and children' choir (awww) with his folksy band Dead Man's Bones. And, much like everything else works at, he's dedicated to the music and it shows. But still, you can tell it's not his first love, which apparently is making dudes jealous.
Jared Leto: Ever brooding, ever eye-makeup, ever Jared Leto. Angsty since '71, Leto won most girls over in the '90s on My So-Called Life, and then sincerely freaked all of us out in Requiem For a Dream and Fight Club, but he also formed his alt-rock project 30 Seconds to Mars in the 90s. His band is very similar to his acting method: very dramatic, very flashy, very eyeliner, but not wholly inoffensive. Congratulations!