Published By: Sayan Paul

Happy Birthday, Scarlett Johansson: Did You Know The 'Black Widow' Actress Is Also A Gifted Singer?

One of Hollywood's most accomplished actresses, Scarlett Johansson is also a professional singer with several albums to her credit.

Scarlett Johansson has an insane range as an actress. I mean, just look at her filmography, and you'll be enthralled seeing the variety of characters that she has essayed over the years. Of course, she is most celebrated for her role as the fierce Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But beyond that, she is also the doting mother Rosie in 'Jojo Rabit', the amateur photographer Cristina in 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona', the helpless Nicole Barber in 'Marriage Story', and even the artificial intelligence voice assistant Samantha in 'Her'. And the best thing about her is that she never - and I repeat never - feels repetitive on the screen.

Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanov aka Black Widow

The actress Scarlett Johansson is celebrated all over the world. But only a few know that there's another side to her, which is at par with her acting prowess. Well, it's her singing career we are talking about. Today, on her 40th birthday, let's explore that in this article.

Scarlett Johansson - The Singer

Well, actually, Scarlett Johansson was more interested in music than acting while growing up. At that time, she wanted to do musical theatre but was never selected due to her husky voice. And that's when she decided to pursue a career in acting instead.

In addition to her super successful acting career, Johansson has also been a professional singer. In 2006, she sang the track "Summertime" for the album 'Unexpected Dreams – Songs from the Stars'. The following year, she performed with the Scottish alternative rock band, The Jesus and Mary Chain, for a Coachella reunion show in Indio, California. And she released her debut album 'Anywhere I Lay My Head' in 2008, consisting of one original song and ten cover versions of Tom Waits songs. The album received mixed reviews, however, paved the way for more opportunities along the way. In 2009, she released a collaborative album with singer-songwriter Pete Yorn, titled 'Break Up', which received enormous acclaim from across the world. In that same year, she covered Jeff Buckley's "Last Goodbye" for the soundtrack of 'He's Just Not That Into You'. Later, she sang the track "Before My Time" for the Oscar-nominated 2012 documentary Chasing Ice, and also "The Moon Song" with Joaquin Phoenix in Spike Jonze's 2013 Oscar-winning film 'Her'.

Credit: RHINO

She Is Part Of An All-Female Band

Back in February 2015, Johansson founded an all-female band, 'The Singles', along with Este Haim (who was working with the Los Angeles-based band 'Haim'), Holly Miranda, Kendra Morris, and Julia Haltigan. The band released their first single, "Candy", produced by Dave Andrew Sitek from the indie rock group TV on the Radio. It was inspired by '80s female groups the Bangles and the Go-Go's and by Canadian electro-R&B artist Grimes.

Credit: RADIO JOVEM FM - ONLINE

Speaking about the single, Johansson later shared in an interview, "The idea was to write super-pop dance music written and performed by girls. I wanted it to be like those bands. Ultrapop but also a little ironic, a little in on the joke."

Some Interesting Facts To Know

As a kid, Johansson was rejected from a lot of music programs due to her voice. In her words, "When I was a little kid, I trained as a singer because I really wanted to do musical theatre, but my voice was so deep it was impossible for me to get cast! So I went into acting instead."

After the release of "Candy", Johansson and her band members were issued a cease-and-desist order from the lead singer of the band 'The Singles' (based in Los Angeles), demanding to stop using their band name.

In 2008, she appeared in Justin Timberlake's music video, "What Goes Around... Comes Around", which was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year.

Credit: The Scarlett Zone

The actress has showcased her singing skills in several of her own films (for example, the karaoke scene in her 2003 film 'Lost in Translation') as well.

Happy Birthday, Scarlett Johansson. Best Wishes For All Your Upcoming Endeavors!