Music career In 1985, Isaak signed a contract with
Warner Bros. Records and released his first album,
Silvertone, Despite being named after his band,
Silvertone was mostly recorded with
session musicians. The album's sound was raw and diverse, mingling country blues with conventional folk ballads. Although the album was a critical success, it failed to sell respectably. Two tracks from the album, "Gone Ridin'" and "Livin' for Your Lover", featured in
David Lynch's 1986 film
Blue Velvet. Isaak's
self-titled follow-up album was released in 1987 and reached the
Billboard 200. It was first released on the 1989 album
Heart Shaped World, and an
instrumental version of the song was subsequently featured in the 1990 David Lynch film
Wild at Heart. It also reached No. 10 in the
UK Singles Chart. The music video for the song was directed by
Herb Ritts and was an
MTV and
VH1 hit; shot in black and white, it featured Isaak and supermodel
Helena Christensen in a sensual encounter on the beach, caressing each other and whispering in each other's ears. Another less-seen version of "Wicked Game" is directed by David Lynch and comprises scenes from the film
Wild at Heart. "Wicked Game" featured as the backing music in the 2001 TV advertisement for the
Jaguar X-Type in the UK. "Two Hearts" from Isaak's fourth album,
San Francisco Days, was featured in the closing credits of
True Romance, a 1993 film directed by
Tony Scott, written by
Quentin Tarantino, and starring
Christian Slater and
Patricia Arquette. In 1995, Isaak split with longtime guitarist James Calvin Wilsey. That year, he released
Forever Blue, Isaak's fifth album, and the accompanying tour featured Hershel Yatovitz on guitar. The album was nominated for a
Grammy for
Best Rock Album, and the single "
Somebody's Crying" was nominated for a Grammy for
Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. On March 15, 1996, the album was certified Platinum by the
RIAA. "
Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" was featured in
Stanley Kubrick's final film,
Eyes Wide Shut, in 1999. The music video for the song was directed by Herb Ritts (his second collaboration with Isaak); it was shot in color and featured Isaak and French supermodel
Laetitia Casta in a motel room. Isaak composed a
theme song for U.S. late-night television variety-talk show
The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. The
record producer Erik Jacobsen was instrumental in Isaak's sound for 15 years. Jacobsen is known for his production work with
The Lovin' Spoonful, as well as on solo albums by Spoonful's
John Sebastian and
Jerry Yester. Isaak ceased working with Jacobsen on his 2002 album
Always Got Tonight. "Life Will Go On" from this album was featured in
Chasing Liberty, a 2004 film starring
Mandy Moore and
Matthew Goode. In 2007, a live performance of Isaak singing
Fats Domino's hit "
Blueberry Hill" with
Johnny Hallyday at
La Cigale was released on Hallyday's live album
La Cigale : 12-17 Décembre 2006. At the end of this recording, one can hear Isaak thanking the French rock-'n'-roll star, referring to him as "The King". Also in 2007, Isaak opened for
Stevie Nicks on the first leg of her Crystal Visions Tour. For his 2009 album
Mr. Lucky, Isaak collaborated with producer
John Shanks. Isaak contributed a cover of
Buddy Holly's "
Crying, Waiting, Hoping" for a tribute album,
Listen to Me: Buddy Holly, released in September 2011. The next month, he released
Beyond the Sun, an album of
cover songs (except for one original) that was recorded in
Memphis, Tennessee, at the
Sun Records studio. Isaak performed at the
2015 AFL Grand Final, along with English singer
Ellie Goulding and Canadian musician
Bryan Adams. In 2016, Isaak did the "
First Comes the Night Tour".
Guitars Isaak revealed in a 2002 interview with
Acoustic Guitar that he uses a one-of-a-kind
Gibson: Isaak also plays a Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar, which he uses for songwriting.
Acting and other work In addition to his music, Isaak has acted in film and television — as a main character or more often in smaller roles. A few of his larger film roles included
David Lynch's
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me in 1992 and in the 1993
Bernardo Bertolucci-directed
Little Buddha, in which he starred alongside
Bridget Fonda and
Keanu Reeves. Other motion pictures roles included
Married to the Mob (1988),
The Silence of the Lambs (1991),
That Thing You Do! (1996),
A Dirty Shame (2004), and
The Informers (2008). Isaak guest-starred in the special
Super Bowl XXX edition of the television sitcom
Friends ("
The One After the Superbowl, Part One") in 1996, and in 1998 he co-starred in the
HBO miniseries
From the Earth to the Moon as astronaut
Ed White, who was the first American astronaut to do a
spacewalk and who died in the 1967
Apollo 1 fire. From March 2001 to March 2004, Isaak starred in his own television show,
The Chris Isaak Show. It aired in the United States on the cable television network
Showtime. This adult
sitcom featured Isaak and his band playing themselves, and the episode plots were based on fictional accounts of the backstage world of Isaak—the rock star next door. In 2009,
The Biography Channel aired
The Chris Isaak Hour, a one-hour music interview and performance show hosted by Isaak. The series premiere featured
Trisha Yearwood and included their first-ever performance of "Breaking Apart", a song from Isaak's 1998 album
Speak of the Devil that the two recorded as a duet for his 2009 album
Mr. Lucky. The guests on the remaining seven episodes of the series were:
Stevie Nicks,
Glen Campbell,
Michael Bublé,
Chicago,
The Smashing Pumpkins,
Yusuf Islam, and
Jewel. In April 2010, Isaak was the special guest during
Conan O'Brien's
The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour performance at the
Nob Hill Masonic Center in
San Francisco, California. On September 29, 2011, Isaak received the Stockton Arts Commission STAR Award in his hometown of
Stockton, California. In 2014, Isaak voiced the character of Enoch, the apparent ruler of the town of Pottsfield, in the second episode of the animated television miniseries
Over the Garden Wall. On May 3, 2015, Isaak was confirmed to be replacing
Natalie Bassingthwaighte as a judge on the
seventh season of
The X Factor Australia. He joined
James Blunt and returning judges
Guy Sebastian and
Dannii Minogue. He mentored the 'Boys' category, which included the season winner,
Cyrus Villanueva. == Personal life ==