Buzz
1. This tidbit about Maya Rudolph — the comedic star from Bridesmaids, Saturday Night Live, and The Good Place — will astonish both Gen X and '90s music lovers.
Let’s set the stage: You’re probably familiar with the iconic band below — Weezer, especially their classic 1994 lineup that brought hits like "Buddy Holly" and "Undone (The Sweater Song)."
Before Weezer's second album was recorded, bassist Matt Sharp started a side project called The Rentals. This band found success with an MTV hit, "Friends of P." Maya Rudolph joined The Rentals right after finishing college, before her acting career took off, and toured with them during the promotion of their debut album.
"It was such an enjoyable experience right after college," Maya shared with the New Yorker. "I spent six months on the road. We opened for Blur and Alanis Morissette, even celebrating Thanksgiving with her. We played hacky sack with her band and went bowling."
She went on to say: "I got the opportunity because my high school friends, Rachel and Petra Haden, were already in a band called That Dog but couldn’t tour. Rachel suggested, 'Call my friend Maya.' I had been in a band during college, but it was just a fun side hobby."
After the tour, Maya joined The Groundlings improv group in Los Angeles, aiming to pursue sketch comedy and Saturday Night Live. It was certainly a smart move for her career!
2. Here’s another surprising story — back in the late '60s, comedy icon Chevy Chase attended Bard College in New York, where he majored in English and played drums in a band named The Leather Canary. The twist? The band also included Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.
Of course...Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, known as Steely Dan!
“We pretty much started Steely Dan,” Chase recalled during an appearance on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast in 2023. “I was [Fagen’s] first drummer, and I loved it.”
Fagen later reflected, “We went to college with Chevy, and before we ever thought about Steely Dan, we would do pickup gigs with Chevy on drums. He was an excellent drummer.”
But Chase’s music career didn’t stop there. He joined another band, Chamaeleon Church, which was signed by MGM Records and released an album in 1968. Unfortunately, it flopped, and Chase likely found the whole situation rather amusing.
3. Brie Larson, the Academy Award-winning actress known for her role as Captain Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, also had a surprising — and short-lived — music career during the early days of her acting journey.
At 11, Larson picked up the guitar and quickly began writing, recording, and posting her songs online. One of these tracks, "Invisible Girl" (written after she lost the role of Wendy in 2003’s Peter Pan), even gained some airplay on a Los Angeles radio station. Things looked even brighter for Larson when, at 16, she landed a major record deal and released her debut album, Finally Out of P.E.
Her debut single, "She Said," had a very, very 2005 music video (featuring a literal future movie star in the spotlight), but the album only sold about 4,000 copies. Ouch!
While it wasn’t a commercial hit, it’s worth considering that if it had been a smash, she might not have focused on her acting career!
4. Do you recognize Stephen Tobolowsky? The actor who portrayed insurance agent Ned Ryerson in the 1993 film Groundhog Day with Bill Murray?
Before starring in over 200 films (like Freaky Friday) and TV shows (like Glee), Tobolowsky grew up in Dallas. There, he and his high school friends formed a band named Cast of Thousands. "We were a terrible folk rock band," Tobolowsky admitted on the Lone Star Plate podcast. "We were really bad." Despite their lack of skill, in 1970 they were chosen to record two songs for a garage band compilation. To complete their sound, band member Bobby Forman invited a local kid to play lead guitar — none other than future blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Although Vaughan was too young to drive, Tobolowsky resisted, saying, "We can handle the guitars ourselves. We don't need a kid playing our guitar." But Forman pushed back, replying, "Shut up! This kid Stevie is so talented he’s going to make us sound like we actually know what we’re doing."
It turned out that these were Vaughan’s first studio recordings, and his fiery, Eric Clapton-inspired lead performance was so impressive that all the adults in the studio gathered in the control room to watch him play.
"It was the first time we saw genius," Tobolowsky reflected. "And when you witness that for real, you can never forget it. You realize that genius exists, which is great news, but you also realize just how far away you are from it, and that’s a bit unsettling. But it’s true that Stevie made us sound like we actually knew what we were doing."
Above, Tobolowsky showcases a photo from the recording session.
5. Actor Jason Schwartzman, known for his frequent collaborations with director Wes Anderson (appearing in eight of his films, including Rushmore and The Grand Budapest Hotel), was also a drummer for the Los Angeles-based band Phantom Planet. He joined them at the age of 14, four years before making his professional acting debut.
Although Phantom Planet's 1998 debut album didn't make much of an impact, the band found success with the song "California," which became the theme song for the popular TV series The O.C. Schwartzman even co-wrote the song!
Schwartzman departed from the band in 2003 when his movie career took off, but he kept his connection to music by releasing solo albums of his own.
6. Before Rashida Jones became a household name from The Office and Parks and Recreation, she spent the late '90s and early 2000s exploring a career as a professional singer.
It might not be a surprise given that her father is 28-time Grammy award-winning producer Quincy Jones, but you might not know that Rashida sang on The High & Mighty's 1999 album Home Field Advantage, the Tupac Shakur tribute album The Rose That Grew from Concrete in 2000, and most unexpectedly, Maroon 5's debut album Songs About Jane in 2002.
During her 2015 appearance at New York Comic-Con, she reminisced about her time singing with Maroon 5, sharing that she had recently discovered a demo tape from when the band was known as Kara’s Flowers. “I thought, 'This has to be worth something. If nothing comes of this, I’ll just sell it on eBay,'” she said.
7. Peter Dinklage, now a household name for his roles in Game of Thrones and Elf, was once the lead singer of a punk band named Whizzy back in the '90s, before fame struck in his twenties.
Whizzy, the band fronted by Dinklage, released a four-song demo tape in 1995 and performed at legendary New York venues such as the iconic CBGB.
Dinklage shared with the New Yorker, "We had a fanbase, but it was mostly progressive rock fans. It was all guys. Somehow, only dudes came to our concerts. I started thinking, what’s the point of being in a rock band if there aren’t any women around?"
Eventually, the band split up, which likely benefitted Dinklage's acting career. He recounted a wild incident to Playboy:
"I’ve got a huge scar running from my neck to my eyebrow… During a show at CBGB, I was jumping around onstage when I got accidentally kneed in the temple. It was like something out of a Sid Vicious performance, with blood pouring everywhere. I just grabbed a filthy napkin, dabbed my head, and kept going. We didn’t worry much about personal safety back then. We were smoking and drinking during the shows, and one time my bassist passed out and fell off his amp. It was one of those kinds of bands."
Though the band disbanded, Dinklage didn’t give up on music entirely. You can catch him singing as Dr. Dillamond on the Wicked soundtrack.
8. Here’s a gem for you: a picture of comedian Ricky Gervais, famous for creating and starring in the British version of The Office and hosting the Golden Globes with his trademark controversy.
Before becoming a household name in comedy, Gervais, along with his friend Bill Macrae, formed a new-wave duo called Seona Dancing (yes, this actually happened, LOL). That’s young Ricky on the right side of the photo.
Speaking of *The Office* actors, Ed Helms discovered bluegrass music in his youth and later teamed up with fellow musicians Ian Riggs and Jacob Tilove at Oberlin College. They formed The Lonesome Trio, playing in intimate settings like back porches and basement parties. After college, they moved to New York and became a staple of the NYC bluegrass scene.
While Helms was primarily focused on his career as a comedian and actor, he used his newfound fame to assist The Lonesome Trio in recording their debut album in 2013. The group also took the stage at the renowned Bonnaroo festival and at the LA Bluegrass Situation, a festival Helms was instrumental in creating.
Lastly, while Harrison Ford wasn't a musician before becoming famous, he had an unexpected connection to music history.
In 1970, Harrison Ford was attempting to build a career as a carpenter when he landed a major project — constructing a recording studio for the legendary Brazilian bossa nova artist Sérgio Mendes.
