Eddie Murphy is also a singer, having frequently provided background vocals to songs released by The Bus Boys; the song “(The Boys Are) Back in Town” was featured in 48 Hrs. and Murphy’s comedy special Eddie Murphy Delirious.
As a solo artist, Murphy had two hit singles, “Party All the Time” (which was produced by Rick James) and “Put Your Mouth On Me” during the latter half of the 1980s. He had started singing earlier in his career, with the songs “Boogie in Your Butt” and “Enough Is Enough”, the latter being a parody of Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer‘s 1979 song, “No More Tears” (They both appear on his 1982 self-titled comedy album.)
“Party All the Time” was featured on Murphy’s 1985 debut album How Could It Be, which included a minor follow-up R&B hit in the title track, a duet with vocalist Crystal Blake. This track was written by Rusty Hamilton and was produced by Stevie Wonder‘s cousin Aquil Fudge after a brief falling out with Rick James.
In 2004, VH-1 and Blender voted “Party All the Time” number seven among the “50 Worst Songs of All-Time.” Sharam used a sample of the song for the UK #8 hit “PATT (Party All The Time)” in 2006. “Put Your Mouth on Me” appeared on Murphy’s 1989 follow-up album, So Happy.
Murphy recorded the album Love’s Alright in the early 1990s. He performed in a music video of the single “Whatzupwitu“, featuring Michael Jackson. He recorded a duet with Shabba Ranks called “I Was a King”. In 1992, Murphy appeared in Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time” alongside Magic Johnson and Iman.
In Coming to America, he imitated Jackie Wilson when he sang “To Be Loved”, but because the character he was playing had a thick accent, he had to sing it in character. In later years, Murphy performed several songs in the Shrek film franchise. In the first film, he performed a version of “I’m a Believer” in the film’s final scene; in Shrek 2 he performed Ricky Martin‘s hit “Livin’ La Vida Loca” along with co-star Antonio Banderas; Murphy performed “Thank You (Falletin Me Be Mice Elf Again)” for Shrek the Third, once again with Banderas.
In 2013 he released his first single in years titled “Red Light”, a reggae song featuring Snoop Lion (aka Snoop Dogg). He is also working on a new album titled 9.