Source: Mark Weiss / Getty
Before Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino and Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, at one point, was one of the biggest stars on the planet and was doing whatever he wanted, including crafting hit records.
Coming off a uber-successful Saturday Night Live run that catapulted him to Hollywood stardom with 80s blockbusters like The Golden Child, 48 Hours, and Beverly Hills Cop, plus two successful standup shows, Delirious and RAW, Eddie Murphy decided he wanted to try his hand at music, and there is an interesting backstory behind it.
On September 23, 1985, Murphy dropped “Party All The Time,” written and produced by the late Rick James. The song was the lead single on Eddie Murphy’s debut album, How It Could Be. “Party All The Time” would go on to be one of the biggest songs in the country, landing at no.2 on the Billboard 100 for three weeks behind Lionel Richie’s “Say You, Say Me.”
What made this feat even more spectacular is the only reason the song exists is that Murphy made a $100,000 bet with fellow comedian and good friend the late Richard Pryor on whether or not he could sing, per Wikipedia.
Eddie Murphy isn’t on Twitter, but right now, he is trending because it seems like every year, Generation Z is stunned to learn that Murphy can sing, and Millenials are looking at them like, DUH.
But, it’s also just a bunch of reactions of Twitter users giving him his flowers and appreciating his storied career, which is far from over and has gained new life following an Emmy Award-winning return to host SNL and brilliant performance in Netflix’s Dolemite Is My Name.
Eddie Murphy’s Career Has New Life
Murphy is also set to reprise his role in Beverly Hills Cop 4, coming to Netflix, and a rumored George Clinton biopic. As for his music career, it is still a thing. While he hasn’t dropped a song recently, nine years ago, he released a song called “Red Light” featuring Snoop Dogg’s Reggae persona, Snoop Lion. The video for the record has amassed over 51 million views.
So, honestly, if it wasn’t for Eddie Murphy, we might not have a Donald Glover because Murphy is the blueprint Glover is following.
You can peep more reactions to Eddie Murphy’s career and “Party All The Time’s” anniversary in the gallery below.
Photo: Mark Weiss / Getty
