25 celebrities you didn’t know had music careers

Alyssa Milano

Alyssa Milano brings a whole new meaning to the term “Big In Japan” because she was — literally — big in Japan! Her music career never quite took off stateside, but the actress was a really big deal in Asia, apparently.

You may have never known that Alyssa, star of shows like Charmed and Who’s The Boss, had a music career. But over the years she has released four studio albums, one reissue, two compilation albums, two video albums, five music videos, and 13 singles. That might be pretty surprising to hear, but when you consider most of those releases were exclusively in Japan, it’s not that shocking.

While she was acting, she signed a five-album deal with Japanese label Pony Canyon. She released her debut album, Look In My Heart, and she released several singles from that album. It debuted at #68 on the Japanese charts. Her second album, Alyssa, went certified platinum in Japan.

Alyssa released two more studio albums in Japan — Locked Inside a Dream and Do You See Me? — before she seemingly gave up on her international music career. She released a compilation album, The Very Best of Alyssa Milano, in 1995, and continued to act, like on the hit show Charmed which debuted in 1998.

You may think, “why would she release that many albums in Japan and never in America?” Well, Alyssa has said that she would rather release the music in Japan where it was appreciated, than in America and be laughed at. You can’t argue with that logic.