Chris Isaak Biography

In the 1990’s Chris Isaak found himself riding a rocket to success on the strength of his steamy “Wicked Game,” reinforced by his unusual blend of contemporary styles with fifties and sixties rock & roll. The single, featured in David Lynch’s film Wild at Heart and fortified by a steamy video featuring Helena Christensen, would become a top ten single and turn Chris Isaak’s album platinum, selling over a million copies.

San Francisco Days, Forever Blue, The Baja Sessions, and Speak of the Devil would follow between 1993 and 1998. Chris Isaak released Always Got Tonight in 2002, and then Chris Isaak Christmas in 2004. In addition to his music, Chris Isaak launched an acting career, appearing in a number of films, including 1993’s Little Buddha, Married to the Mob (1998), Silence of the Lambs (1991), That Thing You Do! (1996), A Dirty Shame (2004), and The Informers (2008.)

Between 2001 and 2004, Chris Isaak could be seen on The Chris Isaak Show, which hosted a variety of celebrity guests and also featured actual members of his band. He also appeared on Friends and in the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. In Moon, Chris Isaak portrayed astronaut Ed White, the first American astronaut to walk in space and who was tragically lost in the 1967 Apollo 1 fire.

A one-hour show featuring music, interviews, and performances, The Chris Isaak Hour, aired on The Biography Channel in 2009, and featured musicians Trisha Yearwood, Stevie Nicks, Chicago, Michael Buble, Jewel, and Chicago, to name a few. With Trisha Yearwood, Chris Isaak performed for the first time his duet “Breaking Apart,” from his new album Mr. Lucky. Chris Isaak also collaborated with John Shanks on the album, and in 2011 recorded a cover version of Buddy Holly’s “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” for Listen to Me: Buddy Holly, a tribute album. He followed that with the release of Beyond the Sun, recorded in Memphis, Tennessee at the world famous Sun Records studio.

A man of versatile talents, Chris Isaak has continued to perform, record, and act into the new millennium. His most recent album release, First Comes the Night, arrived in 2015, and preceded an international tour. Most recently, Chris Isaak joined the cast of The X Factor Australia, as one of the judges.