10 Actors Who Are Actually Brilliant Musicians

Ten great actors who could have ended up as major rock stars.

back to the future guitar
Universal

It used to be a common thing for musicians to want to break into the movies, even way back to Frank Sinatra in the 40s and Elvis in the 50s. These days it seems like plenty of actors want to break into the music business. Given their connections and star power, they've already got the foot in the metaphorical door - problem is most haven't got the talent to back it up.

There is another major problems for actors trying to muscle in on the world of rock'n'roll - credibility. Rock fans take their music very seriously - it's hard enough for an established artist to genre-hop, let alone for an actor to try to convince us that music was always their first love, man.

There are notable exceptions, though, and the list below contains ten prime examples where music really was their first love.

It is still noteworthy that even this list of Hollywood superstars has rarely been able to bother the charts with hit albums or singles. They have all worked consistently, however, gigging whenever they can between commitments and making some pretty decent records to boot. Given their immense success in the world of film and TV, you suspect they aren't hurting too much at being unable to work the magic twice.

10. Jason Momoa

Jason Momoa has come to prominence in recent years for his portrayal of Aquaman. The role certainly matches his physique, but gives little clue as to the person behind the wrestler sized body. Deep down, Momoa is a multi-talented musician with great bass and guitar chops.

A quick hunt around YouTube gives an insight into the breadth of his abilities, be it slapping a mean bass with The Red Hot Chilli Peppers or playing some cool, solo acoustic fingerstyle blues. He might look like he should be playing thrash metal, but his musical roots are much more steeped in American blues and classic rock.

Momoa's credibility factor was boosted massively by his appearance as Ozzy Osbourne himself in the promo video for the self-proclaimed Prince Of Darkness' single 'Little Green Men' in early 2020. on a trivia note, he is the step-father to Zoe Kravitz, daughter of Lenny, via his marriage to Lisa Bonet. Unlike most of the actors on this list, Momoa has jet to release his own music, but given his abilities it seems to be merely a matter of time.

Contributor

Lifelong music obsessive, regular contributor to US guitar magazines, sometime radio presenter, singer/guitarist in Star Studded Sham, true believer in the power of rock'n'roll and an amp turned up to 11, about to publish first novel, The Bulletproof Truth.