Bruce Willis surprises his fans as a new generation learns he released hit albums while moonlighting as his singer alter ego Bruno – TH

Bruce Willis surprises his fans as a new generation learns he released hit albums while moonlighting as his singer alter ego Bruno

A new group of Bruce Willis fans are rediscovering that the iconic actor once had a secondary career as a popular singer with the nickname Bruno.

The crooner was back in the news in recent days thanks to a humorous Twitter post about another forgotten musical side career, that of the action star Steven Seagal.

After a clip of Seagal’s 2004 song Strut, a ‘dancehall song’ in which he ‘sings in a fake Jamaican accent and his first line is “me wan da poonani,”‘ some commenters began comparing the excerpt unfavorably to Willis’ more successful singing career as Bruno.

Although his Bruno project has largely been dormant in recent years, and is unlikely to see a revival after the 68-year-old Die Hard star’s family revealed he was suffering from frontotemporal dementia, at one time it was a major part of his public persona.

Willis even managed to score a top 10 single and a top 20 album with his debut on record as the blues and soul singer.

Back in the news: Bruce Willis’ history as his singer alter ego Bruno came to light again in recent days after fans compared it to a comical Steven Seagal song making the rounds on social media; seen performing with Doug Hamblin in 2003 at a USO event in Southwest Asia

Former hitmaker: Willis has largely given up the microphone in recent years, but he scored a few hits in the mid-to-late 1980s as Bruno; seen in 2019 in NYC
Willis’ early recordings as Bruno coincided with the peak of his fame on his hit TV series Moonlighting, which he starred on opposite Cybill Shepherd.

He scored his first hit in 1986 with Bruno’s cover of the Staples Singers song Respect Yourself, which reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Despite his inexperience as a professional singer, the song benefitted from the inclusion of the Pointer Sisters on backing vocals, while June Pointer sang one of the song’s versus on her own.

The track was also a top 10 hit in Canada and the UK.

Willis followed that hit up with three more singles in 1987 that were more cooly received.

Young Blood, Under The Boardwalk and Secret Agent Man all placed between the 40s and 60s on the Hot 100.

However, fans were still curious enough about his musical alter ego, whose name was later expanded to Bruno Radolini, when he released his debut album, The Return Of Bruno, in January of 1987.

It peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart, while it reached number four on the UK albums chart.

At the time, Willis’ semi-comical approach to bluesy cover songs was compared — unfavorably — to The Blues Brothers.

To promote the album, he fused his acting and music careers by releasing a parody video which featured clips of him inserted to make it look as if Bruno had performed at historical musical events, including Woodstock, which earned comparisons to the rock mockumentary classic Spinal Tap.

Two years later, he released the LP If It Don’t Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger, which received slightly stronger reviews but was only a modest hit compared to a predecessor.

Although Willis would still take the mic now and then, he largely abandoned Bruno as a recording project after the failure of If It Don’t Kill You.

He continued to record occasional songs for film soundtracks throughout the 2000s, including on 1991’s Hudson Hawk, 2000’s The Whole Nine Yards and 2003’s Rugrats Go Wild, but his last album was a 2001 best-of compilation.

His most recent guest appearance as a singer appears to have been on Blues Traveler’s 2008 LP North Hollywood Shootout.

Double threat: He scored a top five hit with 1986’s cover of Respect Yourself with the Pointer Sisters, and his 1987 LP The Return Of Bruno was a top 20 hit; seen in 1987 in NYC

Having a laugh: Bruce promoted The Return Of Bruno with a mockumentary-style video showing Bruno performing at past historical concerts, which earned comparisons to Spinal Tap; seen in 2003

Faded away: But his 1991 follow-up album had a mediocre performance, and Bruce largely stuck to acting from then on aside from occasional film soundtrack songs; still from Die Hard

He provided vocals on the album’s final track, Free Willis (Ruminations From Behind Uncle Bob’s Machine Shop).

Lately, Willis has had to give up his primary passion, acting, after he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

The condition, which is caused by damage to neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, can lead to difficult speaking and changes in behavior, such as more impulsive actions and a failure to plan ahead.

Over time, difficulty reading or understanding speech can develop, and suffers can also have problems walking and moving as the condition progresses.