6 Celebrities That You May Not Know Made Music

Being someone who is always looking up old and new music, along with occasionally keeping up with pop culture, I have certainly come across a few individuals I was surprised to see have made music. And while some of these individuals may not be as surprising as others, they are definitely some that I don’t see many people talking about when it comes to music. So let’s dig in!

Kim Kardashian

The first person on my list is very well known but not so much for her musical work, Kim Kardashian. I was very surprised when I found out that Kim actually put out a single. Of course, the women in her family have done pretty much everything under the sun to find ways to brand themselves and make money, but music was one of the only things I didn’t see happening for any of them. Nevertheless, Kim released a single in 2011 titled “Jam (Turn It Up)” but it was definitely not a hit. Although Kim has been able to make quite a fortune off of her various ventures, music turned out to not be one of those with “Jam (Turn It Up) being her one and only attempt at music. I don’t mean to be a bully but Kim honestly is the funniest person to end up on this list in my opinion.

Ryan Gosling

Unlike Kim Kardashian, Ryan Gosling actually had an extensive musical career. Ryan’s musical career started way back in 1993 when he joined Mickey Mouse Club House along with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera. In the early 2000s he obviously focused more on his acting but would still pop up every now and then to perform songs with friends, and even sang a little for his role in “Lars and the Real Girl.” However, in 2009 during a little break from acting, Ryan paired up with a friend named Zach Shields and started a band named Dead Man’s Bones. They toured as Dead Man’s Bones and even put out an album where Ryan sang, played piano, guitar, and bass. Although Dead Man’s Bones hasn’t put out any other new music, Ryan’s most recent showcase of his musical talent can be seen in his movie La La Land.

Brooke Hogan

While Brooke Hogan’s musical career isn’t as surprising as many of the others on this list, I decided to include her because her career was pretty big for a hot minute but then basically disappeared and was forgotten about. Brooke is probably best known for being the daughter of wrestler, Hulk Hogan. The Hogan family had their own show on VH1 titled “Hogan Knows Best” where we got to see a glimpse into their family life, as well as Brooke’s start at her music career. She was even given a spin-off show titled “Brooke Knows Best” after the ending of her family’s show. Her most known single is “About Us” which features Paul Wall and is honestly the epitome of the early 2000s. I personally still love the song, it just seems like Brooke’s musical career was short lived and nothing really stuck after the 2000s. Interestingly enough, she put out a new single this year titled “Better” but it didn’t seem to gain much interest. If you are a millennial, Brooke’s music career may seem obvious but I have come across many people who were shocked when told, “oh you know Hulk Hogan’s daughter made music, right?”

Jeffree Star

Another person on this list whose music career may be very well known to millennials is Jeffree Star. Jeffree is best known for his cosmetics line and his large YouTube platform, along with being pretty scandalous. I included Jeffree on this list because I am one of those people who first knew of Jeffree from his makeup line and then later found out about his music. However, Jeffree first gained his fame from his music career, which was made big through MySpace after being a makeup artist for a few years. He ended up being one of the most famous MySpace users at the time too. Jeffree released a full length album titled Beauty Killer in 2009 and even had a song that featured Nicki Minaj. Funny enough, at the time, Jeffree was the bigger celebrity and music entertainer out of him and Nicki, which of course has surely changed. Jeffree later signed with Akon’s record label, Konvict Muzik, but never put out another album and randomly quit music. He later went on to start his cosmetics line which more than made up for not continuing his music career.

Lindsey Lohan

Next we have on the list is Lindsey Lohan, who basically ruled the TV screens in the 2000s with her many successful acting roles in movies like Life Size, Freaky Friday, Get a Clue, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, and of course, Mean Girls. While most people know Lindsey for these roles and many others, she actually had a short-lived stint as a pop singer. If you only knew Lindsey through her movies, you at least would have heard her sing in her role for Freaky Friday. However, she actually released two albums under Casablanca Records, Speak in 2004 and A Little More Personal (Raw). Her most notable single from the album Speak is “Rumors”. Rumors also happened to be one of the lip sync songs on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13, which was what reminded me of Lindsey’s music career. Although Lindsey put out two albums, her career in music didn’t seem to garner as much attention as her acting roles, and was later put on the back-burner while she juggled acting roles and her very public struggle with drug abuse. After not releasing music for over a decade, Lindsey actually released a single titled “Back to Me” in April of 2020 but again, it didn’t seem to really take off despite receiving a good amount of praise from music critics. It will be interesting to see if Lindsey continues to try and pursue music in the future!  

Keanu Reeves

Probably the most surprising to me on this list is Keanu Reeves. Keanu Reeves is well know for his many acting roles such as Point Break, The Matrix, and the John Wick film series, however, Keanu’s talents don’t end at just acting. In the early 1990s, Keanu formed a band with a man named Robert Mailhouse, who he happened to meet in a supermarket where the two sparked up a friendship. They decided to start a rock band, which later would be named Dogstar. The band ended up releasing two albums where Keanu played bass and acted as back-up vocals. The band didn’t receive too much attention and what attention they did receive was due to Keanu being a Hollywood actor. Although they didn’t quite make it big, they did end up opening for David Bowie at one point. Dogstar was fairly short lived with their last performance being in 2002 due to Keanu choosing to stick to his acting. Fun fact, Weezer’s first gig ever was as the opener for a Dogstar show!

Of course, I know there are many more celebrities that surprisingly had music careers that I didn’t list here, but I can always follow up with a part two to this post. These six just seemed to be some of the more notable or surprising, in my opinion. Did any of the individuals on this list surprise you? Let me know in the comments!