Worst To Best: Music Stars Turned Movie Stars
From tuneless to talented
Ludacris
The Music Star: Ludacris by name, ludicrous by film choices, this Illinois-born rapper hasn’t managed to find a movie hit in 10 years of trying (alright, we’ll give him Hustle & Flow ). Max Payne. No Strings Attached. New Year’s Eve ?!
Lyric That Reflects Their Film Career: “Listen, look I gotta feed my family by all means necessary, Cause pay-checks are comin’ up shorter than February...”
Elvis Presley
The Music Star: The King of Rock and Roll was more than a mere music star – he became a cultural icon who’s arguably just as influential today as he ever was. His films left something to be desired, though – he made 27 throughout the ‘60s, most of which were panned.
Lyric That Reflects Their Film Career: “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog…”
DMX
The Music Star: Perhaps best known for single ‘Party Up (Up In Here)’, DMX has gone multi-Platinum with his various rap compendiums. His big screen credits haven’t been quite so glowing, with the middling likes of Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 The Grave and Last Hour.
Lyric That Reflects Their Film Career: “Y'all gon' make me lose my mind up in HERE, up in here...”
Grace Jones
The Music Star: Model-turned-singer who was also a muse to the one and only Andy Warhol. Released dance-club hits in the late ‘70s. Her most iconic film credit to date remains 1984’s Conan The Destroyer , though Vamp brought some sass.
Lyric That Reflects Their Film Career: “I’m not perfect, but I’m perfect for you…”
Chris Isaak
The Music Star: A California native and slick-haired rockabilly, Isaak’s most famous song is the mellow, string-twanging ‘ Wicked Game ’. He took the mickey out of his high-pitched vocals in an episode of Friends , and had small roles in Married To The Mob , The Silence Of The Lambs and That Thing You Do!
Lyric That Reflects Their Film Career: “A wicked game you play, to make me feel this way…”
Whitney Houston
The Music Star: Officially the world’s most celebrated pop star (according to the Guinness World Records), Houston shifted over 170 million albums in her time. She had a good crack at the movie biz with The Bodyguard , but stuck mostly to music. Her last film, Sparkle , gets a posthumous release this year.
Lyric That Reflects Their Film Career: “I didn't know my own strength, And I crashed down and I tumbled, but I did not crumble...”
Ice-T
The Music Star: Co-founded controversy-courting heavy metal band Body Count then appeared in the mixed likes of Urban Menace , Leprechaun In The Hood and The Other Guys (as the narrator). Despite a patchy movie career, is generally considered as cool as his name.
Lyric That Reflects Their Film Career: “I've got 99 problems and a bitch ain't one!”
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Prince
The Music Star: Flamboyant, talented and super-successful, with 30 Top 40 singles and 10 Platinum albums under his hat. Prince, or The Artist, has four film credits on his CV, including debut Purple Rain and its sequel Graffiti Bridge , which Prince directed.
Lyric That Reflects Their Film Career: “Pop life, Everybody can't be on top, But life it aint real funky, Unless it's got that pop…”
Kylie Minogue
The Music Star: Launched her pop career on the strength of a role in Neighbours and went stratospheric as the world’s favourite tiny-gold-pants-wearer. Her film career’s gotten a boost thanks to a role in this year’s awesome French film Holy Motors , though former flops include slasher Cut and Street Fighter. Was cute as the Green Fairy in Moulin Rouge!
Lyric That Reflects Their Film Career: “It’s never too late, we’ve still got time, it’s never too late, you can still be mine…”
Jennifer Hudson
The Music Star: A true modern pop star, Hudson found fame as a contestant on American Idol . Despite coming seventh, a starring role in Dreamgirls nabbed her an Oscar and seemed to cement her place as a future movie star. Other than roles in the Sex And The City movie and The Three Stooges, though, she’s not acted much - possibly because of problems at home.
Lyric That Reflects Their Film Career: “And I am telling you, I’m not going!”
Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.
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