June 25, 2026 • 25 mins
We are going where NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE. Kevin had a dream and William Shatner achieved it. Beam us up!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Illness. So April twenty fifth. If I asked you what
the significance of that date is, what would you say? Easter?
No incorrect? William Shatner's birthday incorrect. April twenty fifth is
described as a perfect date from the movie Miscongeniality Ah
Miss Rhode Island. She has asked, could you describe your
(00:29):
perfect date by William Shatner? William Shatner to what she replies,
I would have to say April twenty fifth. It's not
too hot and not too cold as an iconic line,
and it is. She's not wrong, She's not wrong. It
has still with me, stuck with me forever, April twenty fifth,
So I celebrate it. I'm actually one of the many
people throughout the world who celebrates April twenty fifth as
a national and international holiday. So national date day lines
(00:53):
like that iconic moments in film are are no stranger
to our guests. They have many going all the way
back to Star Trek h our dad would say this
all the time space the Final Frontier, Captain Kirk played
by none of then William Jashatner, thee Williams shutter to
(01:13):
boldly go where no one has gone before is a
crazy line that used line that he said. He said,
you imagine having a line like that that's so iconic
that it it just it becomes a part of the
English vernacular.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, Like if you didn't know, I would think that
that was what buzz Aldrin said.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
I thought I would say that was in the Bible.
He's years old, years he looks incredible. You know him well,
and it's him quite well. It's kind of wild our relationship.
But there was a time when I signed him to
a recording deal. YEP, that's a thing that happened. I
had a joint venture. And for those of you who
(01:53):
don't know what that is, under Republic Records, Jonah Brothers
are signed by Republic Records. Is before the Jonah's Brothers
signed to Republic Records. I was sitting around during COVID
and I just was scrolling on TikTok a lot, finding
all these amazing artists that had very little view COUNTSL
was like, these are amazing, Like I want to work
with these people. How do I do this? There a
(02:14):
record label underneath Republic called a joint venture. We signed
up a handful of people and William Shatner was one
of them because he does spoken word. He did a
spoken word album, so cool. I'm also featured on a
song called Clouds of Guilt that I sing and he
just spoken word. It's really trippy and such a vibe.
And he did an entire album a spoken word and
(02:36):
now he's gearing up to make a metal album. Fantastic.
I cannot just announced that. So we should definitely talk
to them about this. Yeah, please let's bring them on. Please, Hello, Hello, sir.
It is so good to meet you. I know Joe's
got a history with you and and and he just
kind of filled us in on where it all stem from.
But it is so great to meet you, such big fans,
(02:56):
and I know everyone listening is obviously massive fens. Well,
so thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Well thanks for asking me. I have somewhere in my
phone some of the names of the people who are
joining my medal.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So your piece of it is spoken word? Or you
are you singing in this as well?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
You might say, because three of you are such wonderful singers.
He does spoken word, he speaks, I who have difficulty
staying in tune. My pitch is not perfect.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Doesn't have to be. How did this come about? Please
tell us.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Which aspect my birth? My dad A great Why back.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
To your earliest memory? He I would like to know
your earliest memory be more so, I guess the metal
album what's strong The site.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Cleopatra is the name of the label. And so when
I was doing Star Trek, Decca was like the biggest
whatever the equivalent is now record label. And they came
to me why I was shooting Star Trek and said
would you do an album? And I said, well, you know,
(04:05):
I took singing lessons and I but I never followed through.
And I had an idea that I would carry the
fret of a guitar so I could learn the fingerings.
Had those ambitious In fact my Broadway phase, I went out.
I went out to audition for a musical and the
guy I had been on Broadway. The guy knew my
(04:26):
my chops, I guess, but he smiled very kindly and
somewhat condescendingly. After I finished the song It's a thank
you Bill. I knew I wasn't going to get the
job because I couldn't sing.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
What show was that?
Speaker 3 (04:43):
If I might ask, I don't remember the show, but
I remember the kindly look because because I had been
an actor in straight plays, and so he wasn't going
to dismiss me and saying we'll go ahead and we
might call it. He had enough respect to be kind
to say thank you and the smile on his face.
But I knew then that I'd made a big mistake.
(05:03):
After that, I was. I tried taking singing lessons, and
I got to solfeggio and relative pitch, which you can train.
As I'm telling your audiences, you can train your ear
if you do enough on a key to a piano
or a guitar and you hit that note. H oh,
that's an april. And you can train if with years
(05:25):
as you have done, as you guys have done so brilliantly,
you can train your ear for relative pitch. I didn't
even get that far. But what I got to do
is I was. I was an actor in the classics
for many years, dealing a lot with iambic pentameter and
poetry and right and in a way that's singing poetry.
(05:48):
There is a melodic line in poetry, so that spoken
word and singing is not that far apart. It's enough
far part that's many times in my case it doesn't
really work. But singing and speaking in rhythm and in
(06:10):
music is possible, and I think that's what I do.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So you do it. Well, wow, I'm very excited to
hear this with this middle album.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
I was talking about this earlier today the Awards for
Science Fiction, and they said, would you sing rocket Man?
And I said, well, okay, I'll do it. I was
in front of an audience. They had the lyrics there
and and I did rocket Band and I did the
best I could, doing Frank Sinatra. Cigarette caller was open.
(06:43):
I was doing rocket Man is Frank Sinatra. It wasn't
supposed to be recorded, but they had recorded. And it's
followed me all since then. Fifty years ago, it's followed me.
Rocket Band, Hey rock a band. Three four months ago,
there was a cruise ship Star Trek cruise ship and
they said, when you come on the cruise and all
(07:04):
we want you to do is sing Rocketman. So and
they were going to pay me a lot of money,
so I said, okay, I'll do a rocket Man. I
got there. They had a band, really incredible musicians. In
looking more carefully at the lyric that he wrote, there's
a lot about the astronaut is afraid of being alone.
(07:26):
There's a lot about the emotion. I think it's going
to be a long long time. And I had this
band and I said, I'm going to reinterpret the song
as an actor would. There's a lot about a loonness here,
and I'm going to be frightened to be alone. I'm
going to be alone. And we played it that way,
and there was four thousand people on the cruise ship.
(07:48):
They didn't have a theater big enough, so they wanted
me to do it twice. I did it twice, and
I didn't know how it was going to go. I
was just doing the best I could and I did
my version of rocket Man and they stood up and
they applauded. Two thousand people applauded, thank you very much.
I'm going to get off, and they wouldn't let me off.
(08:09):
They were so been, so moved by that interpretation of Rocketman.
Well then I did it again later in part of
another audience, and they did the same thing. They wouldn't
let me off the stage because I found the truth
of a song and it moved them like they hadn't
heard before on anybody at debreting rocket Man.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
That's wonderful. I have also performed on a cruise ship,
and I will say that it was it was one
of the more challenging performances. Well, I sort of got
seasick while it was happening, and the stage was moving,
you know, and we were on some rough water. Did
(08:51):
you experience some rough water when you were singing rocommend.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
We were in the roughest seas of all in the darkness.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Oh wow, no way, and you still had them in
the palm of your hands.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
See and talking about being alone. I wanted to be
an astronaut when I was a kid, did you? I
absolutely wanted.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
What did you do to make your dream come true?
Speaker 1 (09:10):
I am My dream did not come true? Picked guitar
to the stars.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
You could have named it a good star. This is
a good star.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I saw a film where the astronaut floated off into
space and no one could get him and into the darkness,
and I said, that's not I'm never going to space.
But you went to space and you lived my dream.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
You've been to space now and you played one of
the more iconic space travelers, I would say the most iconic.
Our Our father is a big fan. Raised I could
that you can't you can't do that.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
I can't separate. That's the best I can do.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
It's there in theory. But then you got this chance
to go to space, which I think, you know, on
top of it just being a great experience, I'm sure,
or a memory of a lifetime, what I think it
did for others who have dreamed, you know, when they
were kids, or or you know, fall in love with
with shows that that touch on you know, you know,
(10:09):
science fiction and space travel. It really sent a message
of hope, and I think it was a really beautiful thing.
Can you tell us how this came about and what
the experience was like from your perspective.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
So it must have been about five years ago. I
read in the paper this producer and I Jeff Bezos
space arm called Blue Origin was forming and they had
a rocket and they had a cabin, a spaceship and
they were going to launch it in a year. And
(10:43):
so my friend and I said, jeez, they should put
me up there. And we called ahead and they said, ah,
it's a great idea. Come up to Seattle to Amazon
headquarters and let's talk about it. So we flew up
to Seattle and went into the lobby of Amazon, and
there this enormous lobby was a big table with a dome,
(11:08):
a clear dome over it, and when we looked at it,
it was it was the model of the spaceship the Enterprise.
It was the actual model. They now retired it, and
Beza somehow acquired it and put it in the center
of his lock.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I wonder how he acquired it.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, yes, probably money.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
And lots of it.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Yeah, well to you and me.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yeah, he's like, oh that little thing, sure, put it
in the lobby.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
You want that amount? Good. So he met me there
in the lobby and we started talking about Star Trek
and turns out he was a big fan of Star Trek.
And then we go sit down at a table at
a board table and a couple of his advisors and
my friend and I and we say, you know you're
going to shoot that rock up there, Captain Kirk should
(12:02):
be on the first rock. And he says that's a
great idea. Why absolutely, So we go home. Yeah, we'll
call you. I call you. Then COVID hits this that
stuff a long ago it was, and COVID hits and
the whole thing's canceled. And then we a year goes
by and COVID is manageable. And we read in the
paper Jeff Bezos and his brother and a woman astronaut
(12:28):
who didn't go up into space, and a young guy
and teenager were the four people who are going to
go on the first voyage up. And I said to
my friend, now, I guess that's that's too bad, because
it would have been an interesting experience. So Jeff Bezos
goes up with his brother and the astronaut and the
and the young boy and uh. And then they call
(12:52):
and they say, would you like to go second? And
I said, I don't do second. I don't, but I thought,
you know, I don't know whether second is a good idea.
And then I thought, my basic living philosophy is do
everything you can, just jump in and do it, and
(13:14):
if it fails, you know, if that album doesn't work,
you'll do another album or you won't.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
So the question is how many aliens did you see
while you were up there?
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Seventeen? It was a half an alien, half.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
An alien half?
Speaker 2 (13:29):
How deep does it go? Like did they prep you
in advance of this? Be Like if you see something
that you're not supposed to talk about.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
That would have been wonderful what I did see, because
you can imagine that the spaceship itself was had a
lot of cameras in it. They were it was a
television you know, they were going to release it as
a television thing. And I saw television of Jeff Bezos
in weightlessness, and he was if you're the camera, the
camera was pointing this way, and his legs were like
(13:58):
my fingers. He's on his stomach floating in waitlessness and
his legs are apart, and the kid is throwing candies
at his rear end. Classically, that's how Jeff experienced a
part of the space things. So I thought, I'm not
going to do well.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
I would think that that there would have to be
some level of due diligence right beforehand. Was there any
training or heads up about what you might experience physically?
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Yeah? So they said, come on, We've arranged for the
transportation for a Monday morning and we'll train to Wednesday Thursday,
and if we think you and the other three people
are going with you are ready, we'll send you up
Wednesay or Thursday. What.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Wow? How long is the trip in total? Up? Like
getting up there?
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Down? Depends when you start counting. When they started the
countdown with me that it is, say sixteen, hold it,
there's an alao. What the hou's in layo? Alao is
something doesn't belong there?
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Oh, no, in alien.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
So they held a countdown. What the hell's that? Oh?
What about the OL's gone seventeen, fourteen, thirteen, got to
about twelve and they said, all right, and this is
the God's truth. They said, Okay, we're gonna take the
gantry away now. Anybody who wants to get off should
get off. Now.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Is that what is a right of disney World?
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Yeah, like it's a ride at Disney World. And I've
spoken about it and said and I made my way,
I was gonna. I thought I can't. I'm Captain Kirk.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I got as though, like I feel like I would
be thinking about a lot of things. Obviously, you know,
the incredible nature that you are actually twenty ninety five
is insane, right, It's amazing that you've had this career
and doing something like this.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Yeah, then maybe it is in ninety five. Maybe I'm
thirty two.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
I think you are. Definitely you have the spirit of
a thirty time definitely.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Anyway, I didn't get off. The thing went up and
it was like an elephant sitting on your chest. The
geez can't believe it. Oh, would you do it again?
I had such an enormous experience that to do it
again is like being false to somebody you loved.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
MM, it's beautiful. It's beautiful because you were a poet.
You were so poetic. Do you have a favorite poem yourself?
Speaker 3 (16:24):
I've written the writing partner. His name is Robert Scherno,
friend of mine, who is a great poet, and we've
written the lyrics to five or more albums, which he
then gathered all the lyrics and we've made a book.
And each song has a meaning to me. I wrote
(16:46):
a song about leaving home. I wrote a song about
my journey to Toronto to begin my career. An audience
that was cautioned not to meet in the Apollo Theater
in London, don't be there. No more than ten people
can meet because of COVID. I arrive and I know
this's sold out audience prior to my going in to
(17:06):
thirty five hundred people. And I've sold out, and I'm
behind the curtain. I'm thinking, God, I wonder if anybody's there.
And the curtain opens and thirty five hundred people are there.
They had defied the Prime Minister's edict no more than
ten people. Thirty five hundred people waited to see me,
and tears rolling down my eyes and tears rolling down
(17:28):
their eyes. It was a moment of communion that is unreal.
You will see lyrics that are so meaningful and yet poetic.
It's extraordiny. I'm so happy with it.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
I can't wait to check it out. We've got some
questions from your adoring fans. Yeah, they've written in, they've
called in, they've text us, they tweeted us. The first
is from Zach and he says, in twenty twenty six,
in what ways as a society are we closer to
the future imagined in Star Trek twenty well to one
hundred and sixty five then you expected when you started
(18:03):
filming the sixties? And in what ways are we further away?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Good question. Artemis two four astronauts could have put a
robot in a lot of people's opinion mine too, that
the machines aboard the Artemis would have taken just as
good pictures and maybe analyze the back of the moon
more than just eyesight. I heard one of them say
(18:27):
that the precision that your eyesight has is more than
the instruments, and I don't believe that they were making
a case for sending a live astronaut to space, whereas
with AI and the cameras we have, you could make
a case for not sending any human beings and getting
(18:50):
all that information through mechanical means, sending it back and
running it through AI, and you've got your journey to
the stars. There's an argument to be made that human
beings and their vulnerability is a detriment, and that's sending
these sophisticated machines and we're only beginning to see the robots.
(19:11):
I did a I'm writing a book on the effect
on people that I interviewed the effect of Star Trek
on those people, and I thought, well, it's a good idea.
It's such an incredible idea. I talked to a guy
whose only connection with humanity was a mechanical dog and
(19:32):
a mechanical robot in the house that took care of
the house, and the dog patrols the outside of the house,
and he has a fifty minute drive to work where
he teaches mechanics. He's totally rejected humanity and he drives
with the mechanical dog. As I had my hand on
my dog, we get to the he's identified with mechanics
(19:53):
he has and as a result of watching Star Trek.
I mean, amazing story wo this book is going to show.
I mean, it's just I had no idea. I've done
some celebrities Seth McFarland, Been Stiller, Ben Folds, but I
(20:13):
mean I've got some really interesting people whose name you
would know. But as interesting or even more so, are
these people who whose whole life was guided by Star Trek.
And I'm thinking I'm an actor.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
If there is other life forms out there that have
watched Star Trek, there are other ding ding ding there
you go, maybe they have watched you on Star Trek.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
They have a galaxy quest to remember that one a
bit of nod to Star Trek totally.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Well, there's there's a several shows of mankind civilization that
set out radio signals for the last hundred years. So
those radios signals have gone someplace. And I wrote a
show about the radio signals reaching a planet and them
saying we got to go there, and it's you know,
(21:09):
ten billion light years away, so it's going to take
forever to get here, and on the way, like every
other explorer spends a lot of time in nowhere. They
forgot after all that time, they've forgotten what their original
mission was. They were just they were just civilization going someplace.
I mean, that's possible.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Absolutely sounds like a good play. I have a question
for you as a so we've got, you know, questions
from the fans. This is my fan question for you, Oh,
Nick Jonas. So yeah, this is Nick Jonas writing into
the age of this podcast. I got to ask you.
You had so many iconic roles, and obviously Star trek
Is is one of, if not the most iconic space
(21:52):
travel and sci fi thing ever. But in your opinion,
looking at your your filmography and your career, what would
you say is your most underrated project that you've worked
on and that you wish people would take more time
to go and discover or focus on.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
I had a dramatic moment when I came out of
the womb.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Now we're talking, Yeah, no, I was, you were.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
It was so raw and I don't think of those
terms anymore. Let me ask you that question. Let me
ask you, so all the wonderful numbers and the idolatry
that you've received over your incredible careers. What is your
favorite moment?
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Well, I was just gonna say, I think from from
a music perspective, there are things that just naturally fall
through the cracks.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Name one, give me one that is your favorite moment.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Honestly, it was this last album I made. I was
very proud of the creative process and look at the
solo records called Sunday Best.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Were you happy to get rid of your brothers? I mean,
what does that.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Mean any chance we have? It's more for me, you know,
who wouldn't live now. But I think that you know,
it's in this day and age, it's so hard to
sort of cut through and there's so much volume of
of you know, releases.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
And exactly you can't. It's hard to because it's the
most recent and you had a great success with it.
But in time it'll merge with all the other wonderful
things you do. And you think, I.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Don't know exactly, and now people are refinding things all
over again. Absolutely. Okay, we got another question for you.
Is there a Star Trek question you're sick of answering?
Speaker 3 (23:31):
No, I may be a little more brief. There you
go with my answer. Yes, that's my answer yes or no. Yeah,
you know, what do you think of Star Trek? Are
you keptain Kirk? I can make it fresh, I can
I answer it.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
That is an art form in itself, getting asked the
same question over and over again, like doing press junkets.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
That's exactly what I mean. But you have to be
an actor. You have to recreate the enthusiasm as much
as you can because at that moment, that writer, that
person who's going to communicate what you just said in
the various forms of communication to see your enthusiasm. But
because if you're tired, and you had you vomited all
(24:16):
over the ship, and and and you don't want to talk,
and they're asking you a meaningful question, you've got to
swallow your vomit and spew.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Well before we let you go.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
We have this thing we're doing where we're getting to
ask random questions from our giant silver bowl and we
don't know what's in it.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Then afterwards you wear it, wear it.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
It's actually my goal to keep away them tracking my
brain waves.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
But that's different. So we don't know what's in here.
Just so you know, I'm just gonna pick randomly, all right,
this is the one I got. Oh it's a good one.
Oh well, this is for you. If you could choose
one song to play every time you walked into a room,
what would you choose.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
I just did a version for a for heavy metal
album another somebody Else's my Way.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Mm hmmm, Frank stuntrm, No, that's not what.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
I did my way. I did it my way or
heavy metal album.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Yeah. I cannot wait to hear your way. Damn that's cool.
So that version every time you walked in the room, I.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Did it my way, not your way, but the way.
It's my way.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Thanks for joining us on the Hey Jones Podcast. We
really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
I hope I see the three of you soon. You're
remarkable artists, entertaining.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Thank you, Thank you for your time.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Take care, everybody all right, by bye bye bye bye
bye
Illness. So April twenty fifth. If I asked you what
the significance of that date is, what would you say? Easter?
No incorrect? William Shatner's birthday incorrect. April twenty fifth is
described as a perfect date from the movie Miscongeniality Ah
Miss Rhode Island. She has asked, could you describe your
(00:29):
perfect date by William Shatner? William Shatner to what she replies,
I would have to say April twenty fifth. It's not
too hot and not too cold as an iconic line,
and it is. She's not wrong, She's not wrong. It
has still with me, stuck with me forever, April twenty fifth,
So I celebrate it. I'm actually one of the many
people throughout the world who celebrates April twenty fifth as
a national and international holiday. So national date day lines
(00:53):
like that iconic moments in film are are no stranger
to our guests. They have many going all the way
back to Star Trek h our dad would say this
all the time space the Final Frontier, Captain Kirk played
by none of then William Jashatner, thee Williams shutter to
(01:13):
boldly go where no one has gone before is a
crazy line that used line that he said. He said,
you imagine having a line like that that's so iconic
that it it just it becomes a part of the
English vernacular.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, Like if you didn't know, I would think that
that was what buzz Aldrin said.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
I thought I would say that was in the Bible.
He's years old, years he looks incredible. You know him well,
and it's him quite well. It's kind of wild our relationship.
But there was a time when I signed him to
a recording deal. YEP, that's a thing that happened. I
had a joint venture. And for those of you who
(01:53):
don't know what that is, under Republic Records, Jonah Brothers
are signed by Republic Records. Is before the Jonah's Brothers
signed to Republic Records. I was sitting around during COVID
and I just was scrolling on TikTok a lot, finding
all these amazing artists that had very little view COUNTSL
was like, these are amazing, Like I want to work
with these people. How do I do this? There a
(02:14):
record label underneath Republic called a joint venture. We signed
up a handful of people and William Shatner was one
of them because he does spoken word. He did a
spoken word album, so cool. I'm also featured on a
song called Clouds of Guilt that I sing and he
just spoken word. It's really trippy and such a vibe.
And he did an entire album a spoken word and
(02:36):
now he's gearing up to make a metal album. Fantastic.
I cannot just announced that. So we should definitely talk
to them about this. Yeah, please let's bring them on. Please, Hello, Hello, sir.
It is so good to meet you. I know Joe's
got a history with you and and and he just
kind of filled us in on where it all stem from.
But it is so great to meet you, such big fans,
(02:56):
and I know everyone listening is obviously massive fens. Well,
so thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Well thanks for asking me. I have somewhere in my
phone some of the names of the people who are
joining my medal.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So your piece of it is spoken word? Or you
are you singing in this as well?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
You might say, because three of you are such wonderful singers.
He does spoken word, he speaks, I who have difficulty
staying in tune. My pitch is not perfect.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Doesn't have to be. How did this come about? Please
tell us.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Which aspect my birth? My dad A great Why back.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
To your earliest memory? He I would like to know
your earliest memory be more so, I guess the metal
album what's strong The site.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Cleopatra is the name of the label. And so when
I was doing Star Trek, Decca was like the biggest
whatever the equivalent is now record label. And they came
to me why I was shooting Star Trek and said
would you do an album? And I said, well, you know,
(04:05):
I took singing lessons and I but I never followed through.
And I had an idea that I would carry the
fret of a guitar so I could learn the fingerings.
Had those ambitious In fact my Broadway phase, I went out.
I went out to audition for a musical and the
guy I had been on Broadway. The guy knew my
(04:26):
my chops, I guess, but he smiled very kindly and
somewhat condescendingly. After I finished the song It's a thank
you Bill. I knew I wasn't going to get the
job because I couldn't sing.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
What show was that?
Speaker 3 (04:43):
If I might ask, I don't remember the show, but
I remember the kindly look because because I had been
an actor in straight plays, and so he wasn't going
to dismiss me and saying we'll go ahead and we
might call it. He had enough respect to be kind
to say thank you and the smile on his face.
But I knew then that I'd made a big mistake.
(05:03):
After that, I was. I tried taking singing lessons, and
I got to solfeggio and relative pitch, which you can train.
As I'm telling your audiences, you can train your ear
if you do enough on a key to a piano
or a guitar and you hit that note. H oh,
that's an april. And you can train if with years
(05:25):
as you have done, as you guys have done so brilliantly,
you can train your ear for relative pitch. I didn't
even get that far. But what I got to do
is I was. I was an actor in the classics
for many years, dealing a lot with iambic pentameter and
poetry and right and in a way that's singing poetry.
(05:48):
There is a melodic line in poetry, so that spoken
word and singing is not that far apart. It's enough
far part that's many times in my case it doesn't
really work. But singing and speaking in rhythm and in
(06:10):
music is possible, and I think that's what I do.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So you do it. Well, wow, I'm very excited to
hear this with this middle album.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
I was talking about this earlier today the Awards for
Science Fiction, and they said, would you sing rocket Man?
And I said, well, okay, I'll do it. I was
in front of an audience. They had the lyrics there
and and I did rocket Band and I did the
best I could, doing Frank Sinatra. Cigarette caller was open.
(06:43):
I was doing rocket Man is Frank Sinatra. It wasn't
supposed to be recorded, but they had recorded. And it's
followed me all since then. Fifty years ago, it's followed me.
Rocket Band, Hey rock a band. Three four months ago,
there was a cruise ship Star Trek cruise ship and
they said, when you come on the cruise and all
(07:04):
we want you to do is sing Rocketman. So and
they were going to pay me a lot of money,
so I said, okay, I'll do a rocket Man. I
got there. They had a band, really incredible musicians. In
looking more carefully at the lyric that he wrote, there's
a lot about the astronaut is afraid of being alone.
(07:26):
There's a lot about the emotion. I think it's going
to be a long long time. And I had this
band and I said, I'm going to reinterpret the song
as an actor would. There's a lot about a loonness here,
and I'm going to be frightened to be alone. I'm
going to be alone. And we played it that way,
and there was four thousand people on the cruise ship.
(07:48):
They didn't have a theater big enough, so they wanted
me to do it twice. I did it twice, and
I didn't know how it was going to go. I
was just doing the best I could and I did
my version of rocket Man and they stood up and
they applauded. Two thousand people applauded, thank you very much.
I'm going to get off, and they wouldn't let me off.
(08:09):
They were so been, so moved by that interpretation of Rocketman.
Well then I did it again later in part of
another audience, and they did the same thing. They wouldn't
let me off the stage because I found the truth
of a song and it moved them like they hadn't
heard before on anybody at debreting rocket Man.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
That's wonderful. I have also performed on a cruise ship,
and I will say that it was it was one
of the more challenging performances. Well, I sort of got
seasick while it was happening, and the stage was moving,
you know, and we were on some rough water. Did
(08:51):
you experience some rough water when you were singing rocommend.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
We were in the roughest seas of all in the darkness.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Oh wow, no way, and you still had them in
the palm of your hands.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
See and talking about being alone. I wanted to be
an astronaut when I was a kid, did you? I
absolutely wanted.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
What did you do to make your dream come true?
Speaker 1 (09:10):
I am My dream did not come true? Picked guitar
to the stars.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
You could have named it a good star. This is
a good star.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I saw a film where the astronaut floated off into
space and no one could get him and into the darkness,
and I said, that's not I'm never going to space.
But you went to space and you lived my dream.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
You've been to space now and you played one of
the more iconic space travelers, I would say the most iconic.
Our Our father is a big fan. Raised I could
that you can't you can't do that.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
I can't separate. That's the best I can do.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
It's there in theory. But then you got this chance
to go to space, which I think, you know, on
top of it just being a great experience, I'm sure,
or a memory of a lifetime, what I think it
did for others who have dreamed, you know, when they
were kids, or or you know, fall in love with
with shows that that touch on you know, you know,
(10:09):
science fiction and space travel. It really sent a message
of hope, and I think it was a really beautiful thing.
Can you tell us how this came about and what
the experience was like from your perspective.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
So it must have been about five years ago. I
read in the paper this producer and I Jeff Bezos
space arm called Blue Origin was forming and they had
a rocket and they had a cabin, a spaceship and
they were going to launch it in a year. And
(10:43):
so my friend and I said, jeez, they should put
me up there. And we called ahead and they said, ah,
it's a great idea. Come up to Seattle to Amazon
headquarters and let's talk about it. So we flew up
to Seattle and went into the lobby of Amazon, and
there this enormous lobby was a big table with a dome,
(11:08):
a clear dome over it, and when we looked at it,
it was it was the model of the spaceship the Enterprise.
It was the actual model. They now retired it, and
Beza somehow acquired it and put it in the center
of his lock.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I wonder how he acquired it.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, yes, probably money.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
And lots of it.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Yeah, well to you and me.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yeah, he's like, oh that little thing, sure, put it
in the lobby.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
You want that amount? Good. So he met me there
in the lobby and we started talking about Star Trek
and turns out he was a big fan of Star Trek.
And then we go sit down at a table at
a board table and a couple of his advisors and
my friend and I and we say, you know you're
going to shoot that rock up there, Captain Kirk should
(12:02):
be on the first rock. And he says that's a
great idea. Why absolutely, So we go home. Yeah, we'll
call you. I call you. Then COVID hits this that
stuff a long ago it was, and COVID hits and
the whole thing's canceled. And then we a year goes
by and COVID is manageable. And we read in the
paper Jeff Bezos and his brother and a woman astronaut
(12:28):
who didn't go up into space, and a young guy
and teenager were the four people who are going to
go on the first voyage up. And I said to
my friend, now, I guess that's that's too bad, because
it would have been an interesting experience. So Jeff Bezos
goes up with his brother and the astronaut and the
and the young boy and uh. And then they call
(12:52):
and they say, would you like to go second? And
I said, I don't do second. I don't, but I thought,
you know, I don't know whether second is a good idea.
And then I thought, my basic living philosophy is do
everything you can, just jump in and do it, and
(13:14):
if it fails, you know, if that album doesn't work,
you'll do another album or you won't.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
So the question is how many aliens did you see
while you were up there?
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Seventeen? It was a half an alien, half.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
An alien half?
Speaker 2 (13:29):
How deep does it go? Like did they prep you
in advance of this? Be Like if you see something
that you're not supposed to talk about.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
That would have been wonderful what I did see, because
you can imagine that the spaceship itself was had a
lot of cameras in it. They were it was a
television you know, they were going to release it as
a television thing. And I saw television of Jeff Bezos
in weightlessness, and he was if you're the camera, the
camera was pointing this way, and his legs were like
(13:58):
my fingers. He's on his stomach floating in waitlessness and
his legs are apart, and the kid is throwing candies
at his rear end. Classically, that's how Jeff experienced a
part of the space things. So I thought, I'm not
going to do well.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
I would think that that there would have to be
some level of due diligence right beforehand. Was there any
training or heads up about what you might experience physically?
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Yeah? So they said, come on, We've arranged for the
transportation for a Monday morning and we'll train to Wednesday Thursday,
and if we think you and the other three people
are going with you are ready, we'll send you up
Wednesay or Thursday. What.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Wow? How long is the trip in total? Up? Like
getting up there?
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Down? Depends when you start counting. When they started the
countdown with me that it is, say sixteen, hold it,
there's an alao. What the hou's in layo? Alao is
something doesn't belong there?
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Oh, no, in alien.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
So they held a countdown. What the hell's that? Oh?
What about the OL's gone seventeen, fourteen, thirteen, got to
about twelve and they said, all right, and this is
the God's truth. They said, Okay, we're gonna take the
gantry away now. Anybody who wants to get off should
get off. Now.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Is that what is a right of disney World?
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Yeah, like it's a ride at Disney World. And I've
spoken about it and said and I made my way,
I was gonna. I thought I can't. I'm Captain Kirk.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I got as though, like I feel like I would
be thinking about a lot of things. Obviously, you know,
the incredible nature that you are actually twenty ninety five
is insane, right, It's amazing that you've had this career
and doing something like this.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Yeah, then maybe it is in ninety five. Maybe I'm
thirty two.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
I think you are. Definitely you have the spirit of
a thirty time definitely.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Anyway, I didn't get off. The thing went up and
it was like an elephant sitting on your chest. The
geez can't believe it. Oh, would you do it again?
I had such an enormous experience that to do it
again is like being false to somebody you loved.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
MM, it's beautiful. It's beautiful because you were a poet.
You were so poetic. Do you have a favorite poem yourself?
Speaker 3 (16:24):
I've written the writing partner. His name is Robert Scherno,
friend of mine, who is a great poet, and we've
written the lyrics to five or more albums, which he
then gathered all the lyrics and we've made a book.
And each song has a meaning to me. I wrote
(16:46):
a song about leaving home. I wrote a song about
my journey to Toronto to begin my career. An audience
that was cautioned not to meet in the Apollo Theater
in London, don't be there. No more than ten people
can meet because of COVID. I arrive and I know
this's sold out audience prior to my going in to
(17:06):
thirty five hundred people. And I've sold out, and I'm
behind the curtain. I'm thinking, God, I wonder if anybody's there.
And the curtain opens and thirty five hundred people are there.
They had defied the Prime Minister's edict no more than
ten people. Thirty five hundred people waited to see me,
and tears rolling down my eyes and tears rolling down
(17:28):
their eyes. It was a moment of communion that is unreal.
You will see lyrics that are so meaningful and yet poetic.
It's extraordiny. I'm so happy with it.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
I can't wait to check it out. We've got some
questions from your adoring fans. Yeah, they've written in, they've
called in, they've text us, they tweeted us. The first
is from Zach and he says, in twenty twenty six,
in what ways as a society are we closer to
the future imagined in Star Trek twenty well to one
hundred and sixty five then you expected when you started
(18:03):
filming the sixties? And in what ways are we further away?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Good question. Artemis two four astronauts could have put a
robot in a lot of people's opinion mine too, that
the machines aboard the Artemis would have taken just as
good pictures and maybe analyze the back of the moon
more than just eyesight. I heard one of them say
(18:27):
that the precision that your eyesight has is more than
the instruments, and I don't believe that they were making
a case for sending a live astronaut to space, whereas
with AI and the cameras we have, you could make
a case for not sending any human beings and getting
(18:50):
all that information through mechanical means, sending it back and
running it through AI, and you've got your journey to
the stars. There's an argument to be made that human
beings and their vulnerability is a detriment, and that's sending
these sophisticated machines and we're only beginning to see the robots.
(19:11):
I did a I'm writing a book on the effect
on people that I interviewed the effect of Star Trek
on those people, and I thought, well, it's a good idea.
It's such an incredible idea. I talked to a guy
whose only connection with humanity was a mechanical dog and
(19:32):
a mechanical robot in the house that took care of
the house, and the dog patrols the outside of the house,
and he has a fifty minute drive to work where
he teaches mechanics. He's totally rejected humanity and he drives
with the mechanical dog. As I had my hand on
my dog, we get to the he's identified with mechanics
(19:53):
he has and as a result of watching Star Trek.
I mean, amazing story wo this book is going to show.
I mean, it's just I had no idea. I've done
some celebrities Seth McFarland, Been Stiller, Ben Folds, but I
(20:13):
mean I've got some really interesting people whose name you
would know. But as interesting or even more so, are
these people who whose whole life was guided by Star Trek.
And I'm thinking I'm an actor.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
If there is other life forms out there that have
watched Star Trek, there are other ding ding ding there
you go, maybe they have watched you on Star Trek.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
They have a galaxy quest to remember that one a
bit of nod to Star Trek totally.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Well, there's there's a several shows of mankind civilization that
set out radio signals for the last hundred years. So
those radios signals have gone someplace. And I wrote a
show about the radio signals reaching a planet and them
saying we got to go there, and it's you know,
(21:09):
ten billion light years away, so it's going to take
forever to get here, and on the way, like every
other explorer spends a lot of time in nowhere. They
forgot after all that time, they've forgotten what their original
mission was. They were just they were just civilization going someplace.
I mean, that's possible.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Absolutely sounds like a good play. I have a question
for you as a so we've got, you know, questions
from the fans. This is my fan question for you, Oh,
Nick Jonas. So yeah, this is Nick Jonas writing into
the age of this podcast. I got to ask you.
You had so many iconic roles, and obviously Star trek
Is is one of, if not the most iconic space
(21:52):
travel and sci fi thing ever. But in your opinion,
looking at your your filmography and your career, what would
you say is your most underrated project that you've worked
on and that you wish people would take more time
to go and discover or focus on.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
I had a dramatic moment when I came out of
the womb.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Now we're talking, Yeah, no, I was, you were.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
It was so raw and I don't think of those
terms anymore. Let me ask you that question. Let me
ask you, so all the wonderful numbers and the idolatry
that you've received over your incredible careers. What is your
favorite moment?
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Well, I was just gonna say, I think from from
a music perspective, there are things that just naturally fall
through the cracks.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Name one, give me one that is your favorite moment.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Honestly, it was this last album I made. I was
very proud of the creative process and look at the
solo records called Sunday Best.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Were you happy to get rid of your brothers? I mean,
what does that.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Mean any chance we have? It's more for me, you know,
who wouldn't live now. But I think that you know,
it's in this day and age, it's so hard to
sort of cut through and there's so much volume of
of you know, releases.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
And exactly you can't. It's hard to because it's the
most recent and you had a great success with it.
But in time it'll merge with all the other wonderful
things you do. And you think, I.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Don't know exactly, and now people are refinding things all
over again. Absolutely. Okay, we got another question for you.
Is there a Star Trek question you're sick of answering?
Speaker 3 (23:31):
No, I may be a little more brief. There you
go with my answer. Yes, that's my answer yes or no. Yeah,
you know, what do you think of Star Trek? Are
you keptain Kirk? I can make it fresh, I can
I answer it.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
That is an art form in itself, getting asked the
same question over and over again, like doing press junkets.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
That's exactly what I mean. But you have to be
an actor. You have to recreate the enthusiasm as much
as you can because at that moment, that writer, that
person who's going to communicate what you just said in
the various forms of communication to see your enthusiasm. But
because if you're tired, and you had you vomited all
(24:16):
over the ship, and and and you don't want to talk,
and they're asking you a meaningful question, you've got to
swallow your vomit and spew.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Well before we let you go.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
We have this thing we're doing where we're getting to
ask random questions from our giant silver bowl and we
don't know what's in it.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Then afterwards you wear it, wear it.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
It's actually my goal to keep away them tracking my
brain waves.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
But that's different. So we don't know what's in here.
Just so you know, I'm just gonna pick randomly, all right,
this is the one I got. Oh it's a good one.
Oh well, this is for you. If you could choose
one song to play every time you walked into a room,
what would you choose.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
I just did a version for a for heavy metal
album another somebody Else's my Way.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Mm hmmm, Frank stuntrm, No, that's not what.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
I did my way. I did it my way or
heavy metal album.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Yeah. I cannot wait to hear your way. Damn that's cool.
So that version every time you walked in the room, I.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Did it my way, not your way, but the way.
It's my way.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Thanks for joining us on the Hey Jones Podcast. We
really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
I hope I see the three of you soon. You're
remarkable artists, entertaining.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Thank you, Thank you for your time.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Take care, everybody all right, by bye bye bye bye
bye
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Hey Jonas!
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.