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Following are my Top 10 Actors Turned Singers of the 80's. My guidelines in making this list was, first they had to have notoriety as an actor before notoriety as a singer. Second, their notoriety for both had to come in the decade of the 80's. With that said, let's get to the list.
#10
Bruce Willis
Although I wasn't a huge fan of the song, Bruce Willis didn't do too bad of a job, with the help of a Pointer Sister, in turning this cover into a top 5 hit in 1987.
#9
Gloria Loring
Although, Gloria Loring was singing before making it as an actor, it was her acting that first gained her large notoriety. Gloria played Liz Chandler on the soap opera Days of Our Lives.
In 1986 she paired with Carl Anderson for the #2 hit Friends and Lovers.
A bit of trivia about Loring. She co-wrote, composed (with ex-husband Alan Thicke) and sang the Diff'rent Strokes and Facts of Life theme songs. Also, the R&B singer Robin Thicke is her son with Alan Thicke.
#8
Don Johnson
Don Johnson capitalized on his Miami Vice fame by putting out this #5 hit single in 1986.
#7
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Swayze rode his Dirty Dancing fame all the way to #3 with this 1987 hit from the movie.
#6
Michael Damien
Damian used his acting gig on Young and the Restless, playing Danny Romalotti, as a launching pad for his singing career which included this #1 1989 hit Rock On from the Dream a Little Dream soundtrack.
#5
Eddie Murphy
It must be Eddie Murphy week or something. He was our actor of the week yesterday and here he is showing up on our Actors Turned Singers list at #5.
With a little help from Rick James, who wrote and produced this song, Murphy hit #2 on the charts in 1985 with this song.
#4
Jack Wagner
What's with these soap stars becoming singers? Jack Wagner, who played Frisco Jones on General Hospital, hit #2 with this early 1985 song.
#3
Kylie Minogue
Already a pretty big star in Australia for playing on the soap opera Neighbours, Kylie tried her hand at singing in the U.S. and hit it big with this song and Locomotion back in 1987. She has had even further and greater success in the 2000's with hits such as Can't Get You Outta My Head.
#2
Janet Jackson
For those who forgot, Janet played little Penny on Good Times and also had a role on Diff'rent Strokes. Her hits are way too many to list and besides everybody already knows how huge a star she is.
#1
Rick Springfield
Springfield played Dr. Noah Drake on the soap opera (yeah I know, another soap star) General Hospital. He hit it huge in 1981 with Jessie's Girl and never looked back.
Like Janet Jackson, he has too many hits too list. I know a lot of you may say Janet deserves to be #1, but my personal preference is Rick Springfield. He has a ton of hits in the 80's just go take a look at his discography and pick up his greatest hits and you won't regret it.
So ends another top 10 list. I hope you enjoyed. Agreed or disagreed? Leave it in the comments below.
I'll be typin' at ya later,
Bob the Blogger
