8 Celebrities Who Turned Guitarists

There have been some great actors who have started a career in music after becoming famous. Many musicians and athletes have also made a run at the acting world and have been quite successful. It’s a world that allows you to cross over into other fields quite easily through the use of the Internet and social media.

It’s no surprise that some big-time celebrities have made a jump into the world of music and have become well-known guitarists. Most of them are pretty good too. However, they all started from the beginner level, and If you want to play guitar as your favorite celebrity, check out beginnerguitar.pro. Now, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Here are 8 examples of celebrities who have become guitarists:

1. Johnny Depp

The most well known actor turned guitar player would be Johnny Depp, mostly because he is in a band with Joe Perry of Aerosmith, and Alice Cooper. They formed in 2015, have released two studio albums, and have toured extensively.

Depp plays slide guitar, as well as rhythm and lead guitar, and also does some singing. Depp must be a top-notch musician if he can keep up with the likes of Cooper and Perry. I expect we haven’t seen the end of Johnny Depp and his guitars.

2. Hugh Laurie

The star of the TV show House is a great guitar player, singer, and songwriter. Hugh Laurie has released two studio albums and even had a single rank on the billboard charts in 2011.

Laurie mostly plays blues music, and has entertained at jazz festivals around the world over the last dozen years. While he is mostly known as an excellent actor, many people recognize Laurie his impressive songwriting above anything else.

3. Russell Crowe

Russel Crowe is a great musician who has had quite a successful career of touring with his band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts (TOFOG), which he formed in 1980 and then reformed in the 90s. Crowe plays guitar in the band and also sings.

This might not come as a huge surprise to everyone because of Crowe’s great musical performance in Les Misérables, where he sang a big number, but you probably aren’t aware of how involved in music Crowe really is.

Crowe grew up loving music and has always kept his fingers on the neck of a fretboard. He even played some shows with the very popular Canadian band, Great Big Sea.

4. Stephen King

The horror writer Stephen King has been a music lover his entire life, and often jams in a group full of other literary giants. King’s band, called the Rock Bottom Remainders, includes famous author Mitch Albom (keyboard) known for Tuesdays With Morrie and Simpsons creator Matt Groenig (cow bell), among others. King plays the rhythm guitar and usually rocks an old-time Fender guitar like his Cherry Red Stratocaster.

King and his bandmates mostly play old-time favorites in concert and they have raised over $2 million for charity to date.

5. Ryan Gosling

This Canadian actor can really play the guitar. Gosling has played music his entire life and eventually started a band with his long-time friend (and drummer) Zach Shields, called Dead Man’s Bones.

The duo released an album in 2009 and a song of theirs is played during the closing credits to the 2013 film, The Conjuring. Gosling plays all guitar on the album and when they play live, and all of the songs have a Halloween theme to them.

Who knew Gosling was so dark – and who knew he was such a good guitar player.

6. Adrian Grenier

It probably doesn’t shock you that this actor, best known for his role as Vincent Chase in Entourage, is also a musician. Grenier is a great guitar player who has been in two bands and has also opened up his own recording studio.

Now, Grenier doesn’t play in many bands, but focuses mostly on the producing side of things. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that Grenier is a good guitar player who has played in some pretty cool bands.

7. Michael Cera

Another Canadian on the list, Michael Cera is a bass player and mandolin player who has actually played on a Weezer song called “Hang On”. Aside from that, Cera plays bass in the indie rock band, Mister Heavenly, and plays with another band called The Long Goodbye.

In 2014, Cera released his own album called True That through Bandcamp. It included over 20 songs with Cera singing and playing the guitar.

Cera obviously has a love for music and I bet we’ll be hearing more from him and his guitar in the coming years.

8. Jack Black

This one might not be a huge surprise since the actor played a music teacher and guitar player in the movie, School of Rock. But some people might not realise how good of a musician Jack Black really is.

He has played in bands his entire life and, even after his acting career took off, he kept playing. Eventually, his band with lifelong friend Kyle Gass began getting recognition for their hilarious and well written songs under the name Tenacious D.

To date, Tenacious D has had their own successful movie and they continuously play festivals and stadiums around the world.

Black is a great songwriter and guitar player who really loves his Rock N’ Roll.