Chris Isaak

Chris Isaak
Background information
Birth name	Christopher Joseph Isaak
Born	26 June 1956 Stockton, CA, USA
Genres	Rock and roll, rockabilly, roots rock, surf rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, musician, actor, talk show host
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar
Labels	Warner Bros. Records
Years active	1984-present
Website	www.chrisisaak.com
Singer / Musician

Chris Isaak (born 26 June 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and actor with several gold records and notable appearances in films by David Lynch, Jonathan Demme and John Waters.

He was a support act for Duran Duran in 1995.

Background information

Isaak grew up in the blue-collar town of Stockton as the son of a forklift operator. Borrowing his brother's guitar, Isaak taught himself how to play and started writing songs as a teenager. He found early inspiration in country musicians, such as Hank Williams, who his father liked to listen to on the radio.

He started out as a solo act, but in the early 1980s Isaak formed a rockabilly-influenced group called Silvertone. The early days were challenging as Isaak and the band played every Bay Area bar and club trying to make their name.

In 1985, Isaak released his debut album, Silvertone. The record received considerable critical praise, earned raves from other artists such as John Fogerty, and became a major commercial hit in a number of international markets.

The singer's sophomore effort, the self-titled album Chris Isaak (1987), was certified gold in the United States and became a substantial hit overseas once again.

One of Isaak's most known songs is "Wicked Game", which is from his third album Heart Shaped World (1989). It became a national top 10 hit in February 1991, after it was featured in another David Lynch film, Wild at Heart. In 1999, Isaak's "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing" was featured in Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut. The song is from his 1995 album Forever Blue.

Isaak has also appeared in numerous films, mostly playing minor cameo roles, though he starred in the 1993 Bernardo Bertolucci-directed Little Buddha, and also played a major role in David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. In 2001, Isaak starred in his own television show, The Chris Isaak Show. It aired from March 2001 to March 2004 in the United States on the cable television network Showtime.