William Shatner Sing-A-Long Page!

William Shatner has had a much-mocked musical career, starting with the 1968 album The Transformed Man. Delivered with orchestral backings with the odd "psychedelic" flourish, his exaggerated, interpretive recitations of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" became instant camp classics. Shatner would eventually parody his own musical style several times in the 1990s, including during an episode of Futurama, in which he performed a spoken word version of the rap hit song "The Real Slim Shady."

Shatner performed a reading of the Elton John song "Rocket Man" during the Science Fiction Film Awards, televised in 1978. Dressed in tuxedo ruffles with a hand-rolled cigarette in hand, he spoke with Kirk-like delivery against a synthesizer-laden backdrop of the song. This was spoofed in an episode of Family Guy.

Shatner provided vocals for "In Love" by Ben Folds on his Fear of Pop album. He would later provide vocals for an alternate version of Folds' song "Rockin' the Suburbs" which was contributed to the Over the Hedge soundtrack in 2006.

A creative friendship blossomed that led to Folds producing and co-writing Shatner's well-received second studio album,Has Been, in 2004. The album centers around Shatner's often melancholy and regretful autobiographical ruminations, and features a number of prestigious guest artists such as Aimee Mann, Lemon Jelly, Henry Rollins, Brad Paisley and Joe Jackson. Notably, Has Been features the single "Common People", a cover version of the song by Pulp.

He appears on the piece "'64 - Go" by Lemon Jelly, featured on their CD entitled '64 - '95, and in Brad Paisley's music video for "Celebrity" and "Online." Shatner also appears as a studio producer in the music video for "Landed" by Ben Folds.

In 2007 a ballet called Common People, set to Has Been, was created by Margo Sappington (of Oh! Calcutta! fame) and performed by the Milwaukee Ballet. Shatner attended the premiere and filmed the event. The filmed footage eventually turned into a feature film called Gonzo Ballet, due out in 2008.

Go to Wikipedia to read more about William Shatner and his everchanging career.