A HISTORY OF TOM CRUISE SINGING

Written by Matthew Pejkovic

Soon Rock of Ages, that glam metal nostalgia musical spectacular (at least we hope) will be upon us.

Highlight of said film will be the sight of Tom Cruise playing (fictional) glam metal icon Stacee Jaxx, lending his pipes to such classics as Guns ‘n’ Roses’ “Paradise City” and Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive”.

But this is not the first time the Cruiser has sung on camera. Throughout his career Cruise has shown a flair for the musical actor inside him, singing a song and dancing along as you will see…

RISKY BUSINESS (1983)

Granted, this is Tom Cruise lip-syncing. Regardless it shows Cruise had an affinity with musical inspired theatre even during his early career, with his turn as middle class high school senior with a taste for adventure Joel Goodsen in Risky Business featuring that immortal moment as Cruise strips down to his tiny whities and spazzes out to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock & Roll.”

TOP GUN (1986)

Hot shot fighter pilot Maverick is many things: cocky, confident, complex and ballsy. Never mind wreaking havoc in an F-4 over enemy territory, Maverick’s greatest feat of courage was wooing ridiculously hot psychiatrist Charlotte Blackwood (Kelly McGillis) with a rendition of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” by The Righteous Brothers….in a packed bar! Many copy-cats tried the same while on the piss to less than stellar results.

COCKTAIL (1988)

In the “only in the ‘80s” classic Cocktail, Cruise played a rock star of a different kind: the bottle throwing, cock swinging bartender. With the bar his stage and drunken masses his audience, Cruise’s Brian Flanigan held court like in this scene where he took Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” and made it his own.

JERRY MAGUIRE (1996)

Cruise received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his portrayal of sports agent with a conscience Jerry Maguire. A film filled with classic moments, Cruise singing along to a car radio ending with Tom Petty’s “Free Falling” is one of the best.

MAGNOLIA (1996)

Another well-deserved Oscar nom for Cruise, this time as misogynist guru Frank McCully in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ensemble drama Magnolia. Although playing a ferociously brash character a moment of tenderness is found when Cruise partakes in a sing along to Aimee Mann’s “Wise Up”, a sequence beautifully orchestrated by Anderson and performed by his actors.

WAR OF THE WOLDS (2005) 

The popular consensus is that Cruise was all wrong for the role of dead beat dad Ray Ferrier in Steven Speilberg’s adaptation in War of the Worlds, and while that is true it is hard to think of another actor who would sing a lullaby rendition of the Beach Boys classic “Little Deuce Coupe” with such inherent sensitivity as Cruise did to Dakota Fanning, as the world slowly crumbles around them.