Counting down the worst examples of actors who think they can sing.
David Duchovny is coming to New Zealand, but not for the reason you'd expect. Despite being known for his television roles in The X Files and Californication, Duchovny will be playing two shows as a singer-songwriter in support of his upcoming album.
Duchovny isn't the only actor who has forayed into the world of music; here are five more trying their hand in the music business.
Hugh Laurie - Hugh and the Copper Bottom Band
The UK star of House has played music throughout his entire life, and has enjoyed success through his music as well as acting career. Playing mainly blues music but foraying into jazz and Americana styles, Laurie has released two albums; 2011's Let Them Talk and 2013's Didn't It Rain. Performing live as Hugh and the Copper Bottom Band, Laurie has toured extensively - including a New Zealand leg in 2014.
Johnny Depp's very appearance yells "shambolic rocker," so it's almost no surprise that the actor has been dipping in and out of the music business from before he even found mainstream success in film and television. As a teenager, Depp dropped out of high school to become a musician and moved to Los Angeles - but his band The Kids split before signing a record deal, and his wife's friend Nicholas Cage encouraged Depp to pursue acting.
Over 30 years later, Depp plays in the Hollywood Vampires, a rock supergroup formed with stalwarts Alice Cooper and Joe Perry to honour rock stars of the 1970s. The group released one self-titled album in 2015 and has stated they are working on a follow-up.
Back when Russell Crowe was a young Aucklander, before he went on to anchor Ridley Scott's Gladiator, the New Zealand/Australian was playing in bands - and even managed an Auckland music venue, simply named 'The Venue'. In 1992, Crowe formed the band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, for which he sang lead vocals and played guitar. 30 Odd Foot of Grunts was active until 2005, at which point Crowe began Russell Crowe & The Ordinary Fear of God, which was made up of some members of his previous band.
Jeff Bridges - Jeff Briges and the Abiders
Jeff Bridges won critical acclaim - and an Oscar - for his performance as a washed up ex-rocker in 2009's Crazy Heart. Bridges had already released a solo country album in 2000 called Be Here Soon, but Crazy Heart was reportedly a catalyst for Bridges' renewed interest in music - and in 2011, he released a self-titled album. He then increasingly performed with his band The Abiders (a reference to his 1998 cult hit The Big Lebowski), which resulted in a live album in 2014.
Keanu Reeves - Dogstar
The Matrix star Keanu Reeves continues to enjoy a prolific acting career, with action roles in John Wick and its sequel as well as dramatic turns in films like Netflix's controversial eating disorder drama To The Bone. But at the beginning of this millennium, Reeves wasn't just acting. From the mid-1990s, Reeves played bass in Dogstar, an alternative rock band that found moderate success over two albums, including a slot at Glastonbury. Dogstar's drummer was Robert Mailhouse, a television actor who had roles on Days of Our Lives and Seinfeld.
