No one has straddled the divide between music and comedy quite like Bill Murray. There are funny people who can be musical. There are music people who can be funny. From “Saturday Night Live” to cult-classic comedies to a unique professional afterlife where all the world is his stage, Murray has found the humor in music and the music in humor by approaching things as a music fan. “Bill Murray is the patron saint of karaoke,” writes Gavin Edwards in his recent book, The Tao of Bill Murray. Murray’s half-ironic smirking at the absurdity of it all, combined with an almost supernatural fearlessness, elevate his musical performances to a form of outsider art that’s beyond mere karaoke mortals. He is all of us at our best and most ridiculous.
In that context, Murray’s demand for an encore at a Lupe Fiasco concert this week in Austin is just par for the Caddyshack star’s course. Though he turned 66 back in September, the Chicago-area native has long been living proof that growing older doesn’t mean we have to lose the passion for discovering new music. Murray’s presence at a 2008 Rilo Kiley gig led to a friendship that prompted later (false) rumors he and Jenny Lewis were dating. He was spotted at an early Best Coast show, too. But Murray has been assured at least a bit-presence in punk lore for decades. After Elvis Costello’s defiant 1977 “SNL” performance, it was Murray who eventually informed Costello that the show’s creator, Lorne Michaels, had been giving him the finger.
Murray was honored at the Kennedy Center in October. Miley Cyrus apparently got “too stoned” and flubbed a line to a Murray-ized version of “My Way.” This is Bill Murray’s strange and awesome life circa 2016, but as far as music moments throughout his career, it doesn’t even crack the top—that’s how many there are. Let’s have a look, shall we?
Nick the Lounge Singer on “SNL”
Murray debuted a crooner character at Chicago’s Second City, but like Murray himself, it wasn’t until “Saturday Night Live” that Nick the Lounge Singer got his big break. The mustachioed belter’s most memorable tune was a bizarre rendition of the then-new Star Wars theme: “And, hey! Darth Vader in that black and evil mask—did he scare you as much as he scared me-e-e-e?” Those interested may want to delve into the rest of Nick’s prolific “SNL” career, including roasting such chestnuts as “Stairway to Heaven” and the theme from “M*A*S*H.” He never really stopped: Murray revived Nick to crack up Drew Barrymore with TLC’s “Waterfalls” and, aided by Paul Shaffer, belt Springsteen’s “Badlands” for the “SNL” 25th anniversary. (Also check out this early medley of Barry Manilow, the Beatles, and Bob Marley with Chevy Chase.)
Serenading David Letterman
Murray was a must-watch guest from the beginning to the end of David Letterman’s 33 years on late night. On February 1, 1982, Murray appeared on the wry host’s very first episode. Above, watch his incredible, aerobic take on Olivia Newton-John’s 1981 hit “Physical” (or as Murray puts it, “you know the new Newton-John thing?”). Other visits were rarely less uproarious or musical. In 1993, Murray brought back Nick to concoct a bizarre theme song for Letterman. And in 2013, Murray visited Letterman in full-on Liberace costume, to warble his brilliantly mangled version of “I Will Always Love You” (which sadly is not online, it seems).
Cubs Superfan-ing Through Tunes
Remember in October when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time in a million years and everyone was happy? (Except for Cleveland Indians fans, who, let’s face it, deserve some happiness, too.) Murray wasn’t the only celebrity on hand for the historic win, but his Cubs fandom is unusually longstanding. One of the most amusing moments involving music and Murray is a circa-’84 clip of him in the crowd talking about potentially handling the pre-game national anthem (“I want to bring the game back to the people,” he claimed). For more joy, watch Murray leading “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch of Game 3 this year, covering the Band’s “The Weight” with Eddie Vedder to celebrate the win, and singing “Go Cubs Go” on “SNL” with a few Cubs.
Karaoke on the Big Screen
Music hasn’t always been as central to Murray’s film career, but when the two have collided, the results have often been delightful. While his collaborations with Wes Anderson have seen him seemingly acting in tangent with memorable song choices, his signature musical scene has to be—quite fittingly—his Lost in Translation karaoke performance of Roxy Music’s “More Than This” alongside Scarlett Johansson. Murray would exercise his pipes again with LIT director Sofia Coppola during last year’s Netflix special A Very Murray Christmas (including a Phoenix collab). He hasn’t stopped creating oddly captivating instances of music in film, either—witness him singing along to Dylan’s “Shelter From the Storm” in St. Vincent.
Karaoke in Real Life
Perhaps most fascinating among Murray’s musical ventures are the ones that didn’t take place on a screen, whether large or small. One time, he turned up to “Turn Down for What” at a birthday party in South Carolina. On another occasion, he watched the Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson sing “Heartbeats” at a New York City karaoke bar. Plentiful are the YouTube clips of him taking the stage at private events to Murray-fy other famous songs: “House of the Rising Sun,” “Gloria” (with Eric Clapton), “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” Above, from a party during a 2012 golf tournament, watch Murray and (to a lesser extent) Clint Eastwood sing Looking Glass’s 1972 smash “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl).” Only Bill Murray could rope a man known precisely for his hard-assery into a stunt like this.