Kevin Costner Will Sing his Song in Court!

Lots of actors have aspired to music careers – from Billy Bob Thornton to William Shatner – but Kevin Costner's foray into rock music has been a flop and now he's suing his promoter. Costner, 52, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing Mahee Worldwide Ventures Inc. of breach of contract and fraud, the Associated Press reports. He is seeking more than $8.5 million in damages. The Oscar winner is the singer and songwriter for the Kevin Costner Band, and has a company, Kevin's Music LLC, that manages his musical activities. According to the lawsuit, the company signed a two-year contract with Mahee Worldwide that would allow the Kevin Costner band to perform up to five concerts a year. Mahee also agreed to create a Web site for the band, court papers say. But Costner claims Mahee didn't deliver on its promises. The whole relationship is a sour note with Costner and he’s taking them to court. "Defendants made numerous promises regarding their capabilities to promote Mr. Costner's music and (their) willingness to pay for the right to do so," the lawsuit says. "Instead of following through on their promises, defendants continued to make false promises and ultimately disappeared." An e-mail from the AP to Mahee was not immediately returned Thursday. Costner's Web site is currently "under construction" and makes no mention of his fledgling music career. Costner tried his hand at singing in his movie The Postman, recording the duet "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" with Amy Grant for the closing credits. His six-piece band made its debut last year at a charity gig in South Carolina. According to a press release, the group plays "original rock and popular music." Why do these actors think they can be successful musicians? Just because they’ve made it in one arena doesn’t in any way qualify them within another. I would be hard-pressed to name one actor or actress whose made it as a singer/musician. Comedian Eddie Murphy had a hit song for a millisecond, but it was terrible. I had the misfortune of seeing Keannu Reeves’ band one time in San Jose. My dishwasher makes better noise.

Fans, agents and assorted scum fawn all over these people 24/7, filling their little minds with delusional ideas about music stardom and pretty soon they start believing it. It’s like saying just because you’re a great musician that you can act. Anyone who saw Art Garfunkel in Catch 22, David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth or Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard (with Costner, by the way) knows that can’t be true. Sure they’re exceptions. Jared Leto’s band, 30 Seconds to Mars, is very good. Will Smith, Queen Latifah, Mos Def and Cher are all pretty decent in front of the camera. But, in most cases, it’s a losing proposition when actors want to be musicians and vice versa.