MomSkoop
Hollywood is full of surprises, and one of the biggest is just how many famous actors are also seriously talented musicians.
These aren’t just celebrities strumming a guitar for fun — many have released full albums, toured the world, and earned real respect in the music industry.
You might recognize their faces from blockbuster movies, but their musical talents are just as impressive.
Get ready to see some of your favorite stars in a whole new light.
1. Jared Leto
Long before Jared Leto won an Oscar for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, he was already rocking out as the frontman of Thirty Seconds to Mars.
The band formed back in 1998, and they’ve sold over 15 million albums worldwide.
That’s not a side project — that’s a full-blown music career.
Leto writes, produces, and pours real emotion into every track.
Songs like “The Kill” and “From Yesterday” have millions of streams and a massive global fanbase.
His screaming vocals and theatrical stage presence make concerts feel like epic events.
Few people juggle two careers this successfully.
2. Zoë Kravitz
Growing up as the daughter of rock legend Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet, music was basically in Zoë Kravitz’s DNA.
She channeled that heritage into Lolawolf, a cool electronic-soul band she co-founded with friends.
Their sound is smoky, moody, and completely hypnotic.
Lolawolf released their debut album in 2014 and quickly earned critical praise for their unique blend of R&B and electronic vibes.
Zoë’s vocals are understated but deeply expressive — nothing flashy, just raw feeling.
Most fans know her from Big Little Lies or The Batman, but her music shows a quieter, more personal creative side.
3. Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling learned to play piano for his role in La La Land, but what started as movie prep turned into genuine passion.
He practiced for months, and by the time cameras rolled, he was playing every single piece live on screen — no shortcuts, no doubles.
Beyond that film, Gosling is part of the musical duo Dead Man’s Bones, which he formed with his friend Ryan Zellers.
Their self-titled 2009 album features children’s choirs and haunted, folk-inspired sounds that feel like a Halloween fever dream.
It’s weird, wonderful, and nothing like anything you’d expect from a Hollywood heartthrob.
4. Keanu Reeves
Before Neo dodged bullets in The Matrix, Keanu Reeves was slinging a bass guitar in a rock band called Dogstar.
The band formed in the early 1990s, and they actually toured seriously — opening for acts like Bon Jovi and David Bowie.
That’s no small thing.
Dogstar released two studio albums and built a real following.
Reeves was a committed bassist, showing up to rehearsals and gigs like any other band member, not a movie star moonlighting for fun.
Even better, Dogstar reunited in 2023 and released new music, proving this musical chapter of Keanu’s life is far from over.
5. Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson’s music career might be the most underrated on this entire list.
In 2008, she released Anywhere I Lay My Head, a full album of Tom Waits covers that earned surprisingly strong reviews from music critics.
It wasn’t a vanity project — it was a real artistic statement.
She followed that up with Break Up, a duet album with singer Pete Yorn, which leaned into a breezy, indie-pop sound.
The chemistry between them made the record feel effortless and genuinely enjoyable.
Johansson has one of those husky, distinctive voices that feels made for moody, late-night listening.
Seriously underrated.
6. Donald Glover (Childish Gambino)
Okay, so Donald Glover’s music career is probably the worst-kept secret on this list — but plenty of people still think of him mainly as an actor.
His rap and R&B alias, Childish Gambino, has produced some of the most critically acclaimed music of the past decade.
“This Is America” won four Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
That’s not actor-dabbling-in-music territory.
That’s genuine, culture-shifting artistry at the highest level.
From his early mixtapes to the soulful Awaken, My Love! album, Glover keeps evolving.
He might be the most talented person working in entertainment today.
7. Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx won an Oscar for playing Ray Charles in Ray, but the wild thing is — he didn’t need to fake the musical talent.
Foxx is a classically trained pianist who began playing at age five.
By the time he portrayed Charles, the music was already deep in his bones.
His solo music career is equally impressive.
His debut album Unpredictable debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and went platinum.
He’s collaborated with Kanye West, T-Pain, and Drake, proving his musical credibility across genres.
Acting and singing come naturally to Foxx — he makes both look ridiculously easy.
8. Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges has one of the most laid-back, authentic music careers in Hollywood.
He’s been playing guitar since his teens and has always treated music as a personal passion rather than a career move.
That honesty shows in every note he plays.
His 2000 album Be Here SoonJeff Bridges was a roots-rock collection that got solid reviews, and he followed it years later with , produced by T-Bone Burnett.
The record had a warm, weathered sound — like sitting around a campfire with a storyteller who’s seen everything.
Playing the Dude in The Big Lebowski seems about right for a man this genuinely cool.
9. Hailee Steinfeld
Hailee Steinfeld got her first Oscar nomination at just 14 years old for True Grit.
So when she pivoted to pop music a few years later, some people raised eyebrows.
Those doubters got quiet pretty fast once the music dropped.
Her 2015 single “Love Myself” became a genuine pop hit, landing on charts worldwide and racking up hundreds of millions of streams.
She followed it with more catchy, polished anthems that showed real staying power.
What makes Steinfeld stand out is that she doesn’t treat music as secondary to acting.
Both careers get her full effort, and the results speak for themselves.
10. Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp has been obsessed with guitar since he was a teenager, and over the decades, that obsession has never faded.
He’s jammed with legends like Oasis and Paul McCartney, and he co-founded the supergroup Hollywood Vampires alongside Alice Cooper and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.
Hollywood Vampires started as a tribute act honoring rock stars lost to excess, but they’ve since recorded original music and toured internationally.
Depp plays lead guitar with real technical skill — this isn’t celebrity noodling.
Music has always been Depp’s escape, long before it became a public side project.
For him, the guitar is practically a lifeline.
11. Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis attacks a rock stage the same way she attacks a film role — with zero holding back.
As the leader of Juliette and the Licks, she brought a raw, punk-fueled energy that earned genuine respect in rock circles, not just celebrity curiosity.
The band toured relentlessly in the mid-2000s and released two albums that showcased Lewis’s throaty, powerful vocals.
Critics noted that she wasn’t playing a character on stage — she was completely herself, which made performances feel electric and unpredictable.
After years of memorable film roles like Natural Born Killers, her music revealed a side of her that Hollywood rarely got to show.
12. Kiefer Sutherland
Most people know Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, the no-nonsense hero of 24.
Far fewer know that he’s also a working country musician who takes his craft seriously enough to tour for months at a time.
Sutherland released his debut country album Down in a Hole in 2016, and it got genuinely warm reviews.
His voice has a gravelly, road-worn quality that fits the genre perfectly — like someone who’s actually lived the stories in the songs.
He followed it with Reckless and Me in 2019 and has toured across North America and Europe.
This is clearly not a hobby — it’s a second calling.
13. Oscar Isaac
Oscar Isaac played a struggling folk musician so convincingly in Inside Llewyn Davis because he basically already was one.
The Coen Brothers cast him partly because he could actually perform all the music live on screen without any tricks.
Isaac has been playing guitar since childhood and regularly performs at live events, often surprising audiences with his casual, effortless skill.
His voice has a warm, slightly melancholy tone that suits acoustic folk music beautifully.
Beyond that film, he’s performed at various concerts and events, always drawing praise.
He’s the rare actor where you genuinely can’t tell which career came first — and that’s saying something.
14. Joe Keery
Steve Harrington from Stranger Things is one of TV’s most beloved characters, but Joe Keery has been quietly building a music career that’s earning serious attention.
Under the alias Djo, he makes dreamy, synth-heavy indie pop that sounds like a lost 1980s soundtrack.
His 2019 debut album Twenty TwentyDecide flew mostly under the radar, but his 2022 follow-up was a genuine breakthrough.
The single “End of Beginning” went viral on TikTok in 2023 and climbed real charts — not because of his acting fame, but because the song was simply that good.
Djo is proof that sometimes the side project becomes the main event.
15. Reeve Carney
Reeve Carney might be the most musically gifted actor on this list that you’ve probably never heard of — and that’s genuinely criminal.
He originated the role of Peter Parker in the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, showcasing powerful vocals and real stage presence.
But his music career stretches far beyond Broadway.
He’s released multiple albums as a solo artist, blending rock, pop, and theatrical elements into something distinctly his own.
His voice has an ethereal, soaring quality that’s hard to forget once you’ve heard it.
TV fans may know him from Penny Dreadful, but his music is where Carney’s truest artistry lives and breathes.