25 celebrities you didn’t know had music careers

Clint Eastwood

When you think Dirty Harry, you probably don’t think of singing and dancing. But actor Clint Eastwood has been releasing music for years now, and it seems like something he’s really passionate about. Who knew? (Many, many people, probably)

For those who didn’t know, Clint is actually a trained pianist and composer and explored his musical interests early on in his career. Mostly he dabbled in jazz and country music, and he released his first album, Rawhide’s Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favorites, in 1963.

Not only has he recorded many songs for his films over the years, but he’s also composed the score for a lot of them too. He has songs on the soundtracks for Paint Your Wagon, The Beguiled, and Trouble With The Curve, and composed scores for films like Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Changeling, American Sniper, and Sully.

Besides his composing work, Clint released three more albums. He released the two-disc live album Eastwood After Hours: Live at Carnegie Hall in 1997, which featured many performances of his film scores over the years. The album received positive reviews and was considered a fitting tribute to Eastwood’s years of success in film and music. His next release was 2001’s Music for the Movies of Clint Eastwood, which is pretty self-explanatory, and The Singing Cowboys with Frankie Laine in 2014.

Unlike most of the other people on this list, Clint didn’t try to be a pop star, and he also managed to seamlessly mix his love of music with his passion for film. He has been honored many times over the years for his work in both music and movies and has received many awards and nominations for his scores, including multiple Golden Globe noms.