Bruce Willis surprises young fans with past career secret as singer named Bruno

Little did we know, Bruce Willis released hit albums while moonlighting as his singer alter ego. Photo / Damon Winter, The New York Times

Bruce Willis’ younger fan base is discovering the actor’s hidden talents, most notably his lesser-known secondary career as a popular singer named Bruno.

According to the Daily Mail, the former crooner was recently thrust into the spotlight after a hilarious Twitter post about another forgotten musical star Steven Seagal went viral.

After the resurfacing of a 2004 video of Seagal’s “dancehall song” Strut, in which the actor sings in a fake Jamaican accent and his first line is “me wan da poonani”, fans flooded the comments with comparisons to Willis’ singing career.

Although his Bruno days are long behind him and are unlikely to resurface following news the 68-year-old Die Hard star is suffering from frontotemporal dementia, at one time Willis’ musical career was a major part of his public persona.

He even produced a top 10 single and a top 20 album with his debut record.

Willis’ early recordings as Bruno were released as he was making a name for himself in hit television series Moonlighting, which he starred in with Cybill Shepherd.

Bruno’s first hit was his 1986 cover of the Staples Singers tune Respect Yourself, which reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Despite entering the music industry as an amateur, the song benefited from backing vocals by the Pointer Sisters, with June Pointer singing a solo on one of the verses.

The song also scored a spot on Canada and the UK’s top 10 tracks.

Willis quickly followed with three more singles in 1987, but didn’t see the success of his first song.

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

The actor-turned-musician later expanded his musical alter ego to Bruno Radolini and released his debut album, The Return Of Bruno in January 1987.

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

At the time, Willis’ semi-comical take on bluesy cover songs was compared, unfavourably, to The Blues Brothers.

Willis promoted the album by combining his acting talents and his musical aspirations in a parody video. The clip saw him inserted into historical musical events, such as Woodstock, and it was later compared to rock mockumentary Spinal Tap.

Two years later, he released the LP If It Don’t Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger, which received slightly stronger acclaim from fans but was still not as big a hit as its predecessor.

Willis, while still singing from time to time, largely abandoned his musical dreams as Bruno after the failure of If It Don’t Kill You.

In the 2000s, Willis recorded a few songs for film soundtracks, such as 1991′s Hudson Hawk, 2000′s The Whole Nine Yards and 2003′s Rugrats Go Wild. His latest album was a 2001 best-of collection.

Bruce Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia - FTD - in February, after battling the brain disorder aphasia for nearly a year.

The actor’s condition was revealed in a statement released by his family on The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration website.

“Our family wanted to start by expressing our deepest gratitude for the incredible outpouring of love, support and wonderful stories we have all received since sharing Bruce’s original diagnosis.

“In the spirit of that, we wanted to give you an update about our beloved husband, father and friend since we now have a deeper understanding of what he is experiencing.

“Since we announced Bruce’s diagnosis of aphasia in spring 2022, Bruce’s condition has progressed and we now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia (known as FTD).

“Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis.

“FTD is a cruel disease that many of us have never heard of and can strike anyone. For people under 60, FTD is the most common form of dementia, and because getting the diagnosis can take years, FTD is likely much more prevalent than we know.”

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