Hugh Laurie

He's known primarily as a hugely successful comedian and actor - notable for his early comedic partnership with Stephen Fry and his long-running role in the American TV series House - but Hugh Laurie is also a keen musician who impressed a lot of people with his 2011 hit album Let Them Talk. The son of a doctor (who was also an Olympic gold medal-winning rower), Laurie was educated at Eton and went on to study archaeology at Cambridge University, where he joined the Footlights dramatic club and began his love of the stage. It was there he also developed his comedy double act with Fry, which went on to many successes. All the way through his life Laurie has been a keen musician, learning to play piano at six moving on to guitar, drums, harmonica and saxophone, and occasionally taking time out from his TV career to sing and play in the LA rock outfit, Band From TV. He also appeared in a Kate Bush music video and played the odd piece of music in various episodes of House. His Let Them Talk album nevertheless still surprised a lot of people, involving impressive collaborations with artists ranging from Tom Jones to famous New Orleans musicians Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John, while performing accomplished versions of classic blues tracks like St James Infirmary, Battle Of Jericho, Swanee River and John Henry. It reached Number 2 in the UK albums chart, was also successful in other parts of the world and has established him as a credible musician.