A lot of people in Hollywood have spent virtually their entire young adulthoods singin and dancin and actin and generally doing fruity theater kid stuff, which is why I’m rarely surprised when I find out that a public figure heretofore known solely for acting can also sing. Like cocaine and weird John Travolta stories, it sort of comes with the “famous actor” territory. And yet this video of Robert Downey Jr. singing onstage with Sting that surfaced this week (shot in 2011 at Sting’s 60th birthday party but only just hitting the web this week) still blindsided me. Not because I’m surprised that Robert Downey Jr. can sing, I just didn’t expect that particular voice to come out of his body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPHqMBjFHdE
I don’t know about you, but I did NOT expect Iron Man to sound like a slightly lower-register Sting. Sting vocals are some of hardest to sing along to, as my long-suffering shower walls can attest (they’ve seen much, much worse). And yet he nails it. He’s like some preternaturally handsome and confident version of Susan Boyle. If he really did suck “200 dicks for crack” like James Toback says, I have to wonder if that gives you actual superpowers. I guess I should ask your mom.
Thanks to Kaseem for the tip.