Bruce Willis is thought for a lot of traditional film roles: reluctant hero John McClane in Die Exhausting; an on-the-run boxer in Pulp Fiction; a (spoiler alert) lifeless therapist in The Sixth Sense; heck, he’s even the voice of a child in Look Who’s Speaking. However many informal followers might not know the actor can also be fairly the completed musician, too.
On Sunday (March 19), Demi Moore shared a heartwarming video of the star’s household celebrating his 68th birthday with an enthusiastic rendition of “Glad Birthday.”
“Glad birthday, BW! So glad we might have a good time you at the moment. Love you and love our household. Thanks to everybody for the love and heat needs – all of us really feel them,” the actress — who was married to Willis from 1987 to 2000 — wrote alongside the tune.
The second was made all of the extra valuable by the truth that Willis is battling frontotemporal dementia, a development from his earlier analysis of aphasia. Because of this, the Willis household shared a public assertion final month that the prolific actor could be stepping away from his profession, because the illness had begun affecting his cognition and talent to work on a movie set.
Within the birthday video, Willis sings vigorously alongside along with his household, reminding followers of the vocal chops hiding behind his action-star persona.
Billboard has rounded up seven of Willis’ finest musical moments — from soundtrack contributions and collaborations to the stage of Saturday Night time Stay and the Motown album you won’t keep in mind he launched within the late ’80s. Scroll via Willis’ most memorable musical moments beneath.
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‘Moonlighting’
Whereas starring within the ABC TV collection Moonlighting from 1985 to 1989, Willis contributed to the present’s official 1987 soundtrack by protecting “Good Lovin’,” the Younger Rascals’ Billboard Sizzling 100 No. 1 hit from 1966. His co-star Cybill Shepherd additionally carried out on a pair tracks on the album: the late ’40s jazz tune “I Instructed Ya I Love Ya, Now Get Out!” and Rodgers and Hart’s 1934 ballad “Blue Moon.”
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Scoring Billboard Hits
In 1987, Willis launched his debut album, The Return of Bruno. Not solely did the soulful Motown Data’ launch characteristic an all-star roster of backing musicians — together with Booker T. Jones, The Pointer Sisters and The Temptations — however it peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 and spawned a Sizzling 100 prime 5 hit with “Respect Your self,” a duet with June Pointer.
The album was additionally accompanied by an HBO mockumentary of the identical title, through which Willis leans absolutely into his blues alter-ego Bruno Radolini. Two years later, he adopted the album up along with his sophomore effort, If It Don’t Kill You, It Simply Makes You Stronger.
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‘Hudson Hawk’
Willis’ 1991 Razzie-winning motion/comedy Hudson Hawk might have been a field workplace bomb, however the film’s surrealist humor allowed him to flex his vocal chops in a operating musical gag with co-star Danny Aiello. (Over the course of the movie, the 2 thieves duet on Bing Crosby’s “Swinging On a Star” and Paul Anka’s “Aspect By Aspect,” each of which have been featured on the movie’s official soundtrack.) Plus, Willis and Robert Kraft penned not solely the film’s story, however its Dr. John-performed theme tune, too.
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‘The Complete 9 Yards’
Willis headlined 2000’s The Complete 9 Yards reverse Matthew Perry, Rosanna Arquette, Michael Clarke Duncan and Amanda Peet. The crime comedy, that includes the Die Exhausting star as a former hitman hiding from his outdated mob boss, gave the actor yet one more likelihood to hop on a soundtrack — this time by way of the bluesy instrumental jam “Tenth Avenue Tango,” which hailed from his 1989 sophomore studio album.
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‘Rugrats Go Wild’
“Hey man, don’t overlook my rawhide!” Probably the most pleasant credit in Willis’ decades-long filmography is his flip because the voice of Spike, the Pickles household’s trusty canine, within the 2003 big-screen journey Rugrats Go Wild. Whereas the animated flick discovered Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica and co. teaming up with The Wild Thornberrys on a abandoned island, Eliza Thornberry’s skill to listen to animals gave Willis-as-Spike the superbly bonkers excuse to place a hilariously howling spin on Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life.”
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Collaborating with Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler enlisted Willis for a memorable visitor characteristic on their 2008 album North Hollywood Shootout. The jam band included a scorching spoken phrase piece that includes the actor, titled “Free Willis (Ruminations from Behind Uncle Bob’s Machine Store),” because the closing observe on the studio set.
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‘Saturday Night time Stay’
Willis has hosted Saturday Night time Stay twice over the course of his profession — as soon as in Sept. 1989 and once more in Oct. 2013. Although greater than 20 years separate his two appearances on the late-night sketch collection, the actor used each reveals to flaunt his abilities on the harmonica. Throughout his opening monologue the second time round, the actor poked enjoyable on the existence of 5 Die Exhausting films earlier than discovering himself in a harmonica battle with then-cast member Bobby Moynihan. And in case you’re questioning, sure, he completely dominated.
