# Famous people who also made songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121 "2012-05-25T23:30:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![A\_Sniveling\_Mess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@A\_Sniveling\_Mess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Sniveling_Mess)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/1 "2012-05-25T23:30:35Z")
I had known before that Steve Burns(the host of _Blue’s Clues_)later became a singer,but I was surprised to find that some of his music is actually pretty good.None of it gained mainstream popularity,but I think “Mighty Little Man” in particular is better than a lot of songs that _did_ become popular.Anyway,that led me to wonder,are there any other famous people with different careers(e.g.,acting) who also made music?Do you know of any such people? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/2 "2012-05-25T23:43:12Z")
Tracy Ullman had [this](http://youtu.be/9UvlKzEhAaE) 80’s hit before her TV show. David Soul (Starsky and Hutch) had a few #1 [songs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Soul#Singles). ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/3 "2012-05-25T23:48:04Z")
Hugh Laurie Harry Connick Jr was on Will and Grace for quite a while (are we counting music to acting as well?) Bon Jovi was on Alli McBeal ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/4 "2012-05-25T23:49:06Z")
Talk show host Mike Douglas had a major hit with “The Men in My Little Girl’s Life.” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/5 "2012-05-25T23:52:46Z")
Keith Carradine won an Academy Award for a song called “I’m Easy.” That particular song was played _ad nauseum_ on the radio for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/6 "2012-05-25T23:55:47Z")
There’s the Band From TV composed of: Sean from Felicity Mike from Desperate Housewives Chase from House House from House and a couple of other people. I believe I saw Terri Hatcher singing with them at an award show. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Sniveling\_Mess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@A\_Sniveling\_Mess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Sniveling_Mess)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/7 "2012-05-25T23:57:06Z")
Hmm…seems like this thing is a lot more common than I thought.Hasn’t William Shatner released a few music albums too? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/8 "2012-05-25T23:57:35Z")
Nat King Cole had a hit with [Smile](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-WqFUnqhSc&ob=av2n), written by [Charlie Chaplin](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000122/). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/9 "2012-05-26T00:00:51Z")
I have the Mae West Christmas album, “Mae in December,” on vinyl. Total camp. I’m sure it’s the only existing copy. And then there’s Brent Spiner. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Sniveling\_Mess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@A\_Sniveling\_Mess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Sniveling_Mess)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/10 "2012-05-26T00:02:09Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > There’s the Band From TV composed of: > Sean from Felicity > Mike from Desperate Housewives > Chase from House > House from House > and a couple of other people. I believe I saw Terri Hatcher singing with them at an award show. House!I can’t imagine what his singing would sound like.Is he reasonably good? ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/11 "2012-05-26T00:02:26Z")
My first thought was Tom Lehrer, but I see that he was interested in music early on, and kept up with it even during his mathematical studies and career, so…dunno if that counts. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Sniveling\_Mess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@A\_Sniveling\_Mess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Sniveling_Mess)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/12 "2012-05-26T00:09:08Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > My first thought was Tom Lehrer, but I see that he was interested in music early on, and kept up with it even during his mathematical studies and career, so…dunno if that counts. Well,it appears from the Wikipedia article on him that he’s known as much for his music as for anything else,so I’m not certain that he quite qualifies.But thanks for the help. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/13 "2012-05-26T00:13:53Z")
Off the top of my head…Don Johnson, Eddie Murphy, Bruce Willis, Russell Crowe, Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp, Jenny Lewis, Scarlett Johannsen, Jamie Foxx, Jared Leto, Jennifer Lopez (remember, she was an actor first). ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/14 "2012-05-26T00:16:47Z")
[Reba McEntire.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005207/) Also, Will Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/15 "2012-05-26T00:18:35Z")
> [@JRyan35](#): > > House!I can’t imagine what his singing would sound like.Is he reasonably good? [Reasonably so.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6riY-103vbc) ---
**Author:** ![A\_Sniveling\_Mess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@A\_Sniveling\_Mess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Sniveling_Mess)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/16 "2012-05-26T00:20:59Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Jennifer Lopez (remember, she was an actor first). Well,she qualifies as an actor,sure,but does she qualify as a singer?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/17 "2012-05-26T00:22:28Z")
> [@JRyan35](#): > > House!I can’t imagine what his singing would sound like.Is he reasonably good? [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3pGknJ9ymI&feature=related) ya go. I’ve really never listened to this before. I only learned that he was into music because I was flipping thought the radio a few months back (XM) and came across his name. I believe it was something jazzy. I’m not a jazz guy so it didn’t really stick with me. Also IIRC he wasn’t singing, just playing piano. I want to say he said he was planning to make a return to music after House…but he may have just said that he wasn’t going to do anything else on camera for a while which, while that implies music, could also mean stage work. Also, I want to say, given all the types of music I found him doing on Youtube, I think jazz is really his thing. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Sniveling\_Mess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@A\_Sniveling\_Mess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Sniveling_Mess)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/18 "2012-05-26T00:31:24Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3pGknJ9ymI&feature=related) ya go. I’ve really never listened to this before. I only learned that he was into music because I was flipping thought the radio a few months back (XM) and came across his name. I believe it was something jazzy. I’m not a jazz guy so it didn’t really stick with me. Also IIRC he wasn’t singing, just playing piano. > I want to say he said he was planning to make a return to music after House…but he may have just said that he wasn’t going to do anything else on camera for a while which, while that implies music, could also mean stage work. > Also, I want to say, given all the types of music I found him doing on Youtube, I think jazz is really his thing. Thanks for the link.As far as the music goes,he actually is pretty good-certainly better than I would’ve expected.Quite a surprise! ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/19 "2012-05-26T00:32:06Z")
Steve Allen, original host of the Tonight Show, was a gifted musician and composer. He won a Grammy in 1963 for best jazz composition for _The Gravy Waltz_ and is said to have written over 10,000 songs. The band Rock Bottom Remainders includes Dave Berry, Steven King, Amy Tan, Maya Angelou, and other literary notables. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121/20 "2012-05-26T00:33:38Z")
> [@JRyan35](#): > > House!I can’t imagine what his singing would sound like.Is he reasonably good? Hugh Laurie? He’s a really talented musician. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-also-made-songs/623121.md?page=2)