Who was the first actor to have a number one single?
Whenever anyone pivots from one artistic medium to another, it’s with the caveat that audiences might not be the most welcoming or willing when it comes to praise. Unless you’re someone like Cher, and can weave in and out of disciplines as you please, it’s a tough game to play.
In fact, it’s hard to name many actors-turned-musicians or vice versa who have actually done it successfully. And even then, it feels natural to view one venture as the weaker component, especially if it seems more like a casual side quest than any real career-developing commitment.
At the same time, however, most failures have happened for a reason. After all, some musicians just aren’t cut out for the silver screen, just as some actors shouldn’t go anywhere near a recording studio. Mark E Smith put it most eloquently when he once said, “It irritates me all these actors in groups. Their actors and they form their own groups, as though that’s what they always wanted to do – I think that should be banned!”
Funnily enough, there are so many names you can throw under the bus when it comes to this. A long list, in fact. But more than worrying about why Johnny Depp is or isn’t a good guitarist, it’s interesting to think about why we’re so unreserved in criticising those who try different things unless the talent already speaks for itself.
For instance, if Timothée Chalamet or Ryan Gosling decided to one day officially make the move over, we’d probably all applaud them for doing so.
So, who was the first actor to have a number one hit?
Which proves that all it comes down to is fundamental respect. Donald Glover can do just about anything he wants because, well, he’s good at both. Kylie Minogue could do either as well because of her deep roots across film and music. It’s not necessarily always about which you excel at more, but how you execute it, and whether people are willing to be there and listen.
But this also isn’t a new thing. People have been crossing over into different realms for decades. In fact, the first actor to have a number one single on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart was Ricky Nelson in 1958 with ‘Poor Little Fool’, but other than that, the song and its popularity are actually unique for other reasons.
For one, Nelson didn’t plan on it, not really. It was originally written by Sharon Sheeley, who sort of ambushed Nelson into coming on board. She knew she wanted Nelson for the song, so she drove nearby to his house, pretended her car had broken down, and then pushed the song onto him. She also wrote the song when she was 15, and pursued it properly after some gentle encouragement from a certain Elvis Presley.
More than its strange genesis, however, was the fact that it proved that, even now, jumping ship works when the material is actually good. People might not be open or willing to embrace actors who try their hand at music, or musicians who switch gears to the big or small screen. But if the project itself is good enough to draw people in, you’re already halfway there.
