Brad Pitt once named his favourite musicians
For over three decades, Brad Pitt has combined a magnetic on-screen presence with versatile acting talent to bring life to such classics as Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Troy and Inglourious Basterds, to name but a few. While acting was always the star’s biggest passion, he aimed to work both sides of the camera from a young age.
In 1986, at the age of just 22, Pitt was invited to speak to Tiger Beat for one of his earliest interviews. After discussing his recent roles in Dallas and Another World, he was asked where he saw himself in ten years.
“In ten years, I’ll be 32,” Pitt said. “I hope I am married with some Brad Jrs. I would like to be in a position like Kevin Costner. He’s on top and respected as an actor. I just want to be a respected actor. I want to make people feel things like how I feel when I go to the movies. I would like to have my own production company.”
By 1996, Pitt had achieved success beyond his wildest dreams with roles in high-profile movies. His ambition of running a production company would follow in 2001 when he co-founded Plan B Entertainment with Brad Grey, Kristin Hahn and Jennifer Aniston.
The Academy Award-winning producer is also a music fanatic. In 2021, he purchased the iconic French recording studio, Studio Miraval. In a joint venture with Emmy-winning producer Damien Quintard, Pitt reopened the studio, which previously hosted The Cure, AC/DC, The Cranberries, and Pink Floyd.
Pitt’s taste in music varies from rock ‘n’ roll to classical, but according to a handwritten note dated 1987, his overall favourite musician was the American pianist George Winston. Sadly, Winston passed away in June 2023 but left an exemplary oeuvre of emotional instrumental compositions.
Over 35 years later, there’s no reason to assume Pitt has forgotten his hero, but he’s undoubtedly picked up a few new ones. Speaking to Oprah Winfrey in 1998, the Meet Joe Black star was asked to name his favourite musician.
Pitt gave three names this time: “I’ll give you a few, Neil Young… Bob Marley…Clapton “
A year later, Pitt was shooting the breeze with Rolling Stone, revealing his love for the British rock band Radiohead. At the time, the Thom Yorke-led group had recently released OK Computer and work on 2000’s experimental masterpiece, Kid A, was underway.
“What is so important about Radiohead is that they are the Kafka and the Beckett of our generation,” Pitt opined. “Thom Yorke and the rest of Radiohead are precisely that. What comes out in them, I don’t think, is anything they could actually articulate, but I would certainly say that it’s that which we all know is true somewhere when we’re in our deepest sleep. That is their importance, and this movie hits on the same level.”
In 1991, Pitt starred in the Tom DiCillo movie Johnny Suede alongside singer, songwriter and Bad Seeds frontman Nick Cave. While working on set, the pair established a friendship that has now lasted for over three decades. In 2022, it was revealed that the pair had begun to learn sculpture under the mentorship of British artist Thomas Houseago.
Besides their friendship, Pitt greatly admires Cave’s music. In a 2022 interview, Cave discussed their friendship and revealed that he heard Pitt learning one of his songs during one of their artistic retreats.
“This is what it’s been like: I woke up this morning, made a coffee in my underwear and noticed that Brad was sitting there,” Cave said. “He started playing the guitar and sang one of my songs to me – ‘Palaces of Montezuma’ – and then Thomas Houseago walked in [in his pyjamas] and joined in.”
Below, we have listed some of Brad Pitt’s favourite musical artists of all time. You can also hear ‘Palaces of Montezuma’, a song from Nick Cave’s Grinderman project, below.
Brad Pitt’s favourite musicians:
- Neil Young
- Bob Marley
- Eric Clapton
- Nick Cave
- Thom Yorke
- George Winston
