For much of the new millennium, Joe Pesci stuck to his decision to put acting on the back burner. There were offers — he was courted by HBO for the ill-fated racing drama series "Luck," but as he told Empire in 2012, "I'm not looking for a job." He instead focused his energies on golf and, to the surprise of many, his first love: singing. In 1998, Pesci released "Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You," his second album and first new recording in three decades. This being a Pesci project, the album is eccentric, to say the least: the title name checks his Cousin Vinny character and features an ill-advised pass at hip-hop with the single "Wise Guy." But again, Pesci proves that he knows his way around standards and club tunes with his renditions of "What a Wonderful World," the jazz standard "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," and a bawdy version of the Ray Charles number "I've Got News For You."
Critics and listeners alike weren't sure if "Sings" was comedy, pop, or jazz, and largely dismissed the effort as a vanity project. But Pesci kept his hand in music, though subsequent releases dropped any pretense of humor. As "Joe Doggs," he earned respectable reviews for Falling in Love Again, a collaboration with jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco, and held his own with his idol, Little Jimmy Scott, on "The Folks Who Live on the Hill," a stately duet featured on the legendary vocalist's final studio album, "I Go Back Home," in 2017. Two years later, Pesci would release his third album to date, "Still Singing," which featured two duets with Maroon 5's Adam Levine, of all people.
