If I had a nickel for each actor who recorded a heavy metal album after their 90th birthday then I'd have two nickels, which isn't much but it's weird that it's happened twice.
William Shatner has the most experimental, wild Spotify I've ever seen. If you haven't ever seen it, look at his discography. He does a lot of almost spoken-word poetry over soft rock, punk, etc. You get the sense that he views acting as his side hustle and is waiting for his musical career to take off.
If you haven't heard his Bohemian Rhapsody cover, it's something else. He flat out admitted that he had never heard the song before recording it. Which... Number one, how? And number two, who let him do that?
No mention of Shatner's music career is complete without listing Spaced Out: The Best of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner[1]. And, yes, it's exactly as -unique- as you'd imagine it might be.
William Shatner is someone I really wish I could dislike. I mean, he is certainly not a conventionally talented singer or actor. He's laughably, painfully bad sometimes.
But the man keeps going! He's one of the hardest working people in show business. He clearly takes his craft very seriously, even if he defines it a bit differently from the rest of world.
The Wrath of Khan has no business being as great a movie as it is, and his version of Common People is fantastic.
I'm sure this collaboration will be .... something else.
== Edit
I'm sure I am over-analyzing this - I do that with everything - but Common People is actually "perfect" Shatner.
When you start listening, you feel "OK, this is lame." After a bit it clicks and it becomes "Oh! I see what they are trying to do here." and by the end it becomes "Damn! This is awesome."
Shatner doesn't change throughout the performance, but everything just falls into place around him.
> But the man keeps going! He's one of the hardest working people in show business. He clearly takes his craft very seriously, even if he defines it a bit differently from the rest of world.
I still think him (of Star Trek) opening AFI's tribute to George Lucas (of Star Wars) was genius:
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[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 58.9 ms ] threadhttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cMXhWf0vE7c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2ftCitvyQ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne:_The_Omens_of_Deat...
Steve Martin paid the bills with stand-up comedy and acting until his banjo career finally took off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul6S84qF_TU
1: https://www.amazon.com/Spaced-Out-Leonard-William-Shatner/dp...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAWP9Oxdn9Q
But the man keeps going! He's one of the hardest working people in show business. He clearly takes his craft very seriously, even if he defines it a bit differently from the rest of world.
The Wrath of Khan has no business being as great a movie as it is, and his version of Common People is fantastic.
I'm sure this collaboration will be .... something else.
== Edit I'm sure I am over-analyzing this - I do that with everything - but Common People is actually "perfect" Shatner.
When you start listening, you feel "OK, this is lame." After a bit it clicks and it becomes "Oh! I see what they are trying to do here." and by the end it becomes "Damn! This is awesome."
Shatner doesn't change throughout the performance, but everything just falls into place around him.
I still think him (of Star Trek) opening AFI's tribute to George Lucas (of Star Wars) was genius:
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEZVwQptvWw
(Also love Mike Myers' AFI for Sean Connery.)
https://youtu.be/7GnoLJIIS4w?si=zP_mlOxV1tKMMkQx