Can Keanu Reeves Play Guitar?

Keanu Reeves has been an actor since 1984 and has since come out with many well-known movies like John Wick or The Matrix. His fans want to know more about him though, beyond him being a talented actor. More specifically, fans are curious about his musical talent and whether or not Keanu Reeves can play guitar. 

Keanu Reeves can play the bass guitar. He was in a band called Dogstar for over a decade where he was the bass guitar player and back up vocalist. The band was actually quite successful but broke up in 2001. Keanu continues to play bass guitar though.

Continue reading to find out more about Keanu Reeves’ history with bass guitar.

The Band Dogstar

The band started when Keanu Reeves met Robert Mailhouse in a supermarket parking lot. Keanu didn’t know it at the time, but Mailhouse was a drummer and also an actor famous for his role in Days of Our Lives. 

Keanu had approached Mailhouse because he saw Mailhouse wearing a hockey jersey. Having recently moved from Toronto, Canada where Reeves played hockey in high school, he was looking to start playing again in Los Angeles, California. 

Reeves asked Mailhouse if he plays and asked to join in. The two became friends by playing hockey and realized that they were both musicians, so they started to play drums and bass guitar together. 

They started off just playing together in Reeves’ garage, but eventually, other people started to join and they started to write their own songs and play small shows.

When their shows had some success, the band started to record after getting a record deal with Zoo Records and made their first album, Our Little Visionary. 

Bandmate Mailhouse says that while the band was becoming successful, Keanu was as well as an actor.

They became so successful that the band Bon Jovi asked them to open on their tour through Australia and New Zealand. They also opened for David Bowie at the Hollywood Palladium.

The band went on to do their own international tours across the United States and Asia in places like India and Japan. They also played at Glastonbury, a big music festival in the United Kingdom. 

Mailhouse said that since Keanu was growing in popularity as an actor, he had a hard time going to shows without getting bombarded by fans. 

Reeves was not into the fame because he no longer had any privacy, he had to start being snuck into shows and it was hard on him and the rest of the band.

After producing one more album, Happy Ending, the band did have their own ending in 2002. They broke up to pursue other avenues.

Reeves and Mailhouse did start another band briefly though called Becky. Mailhouse wanted to pursue other types of music so he started the band with his girlfriend Becky. 

Keanu joined the band as the bass player, but that band did not last long as Mailhouse and Becky broke up. 

Keanu went on to focus on acting but still seems to play bass in his personal life. 

Keanu Reeves’ Bass Collection 

Keanu Reeves does not talk much about his private life, he does not even have any social media, so it is hard to know if he still practices bass. 

Keanu does, however, seem to have a bit of a bass collection going on. Notably, he has a bass guitar with a ‘Matrix’ design on it from his time spent working on The Matrix series. 

He also has a shiny, glittery bass guitar that will be featured in the Bill and Ted movie series. The bass is meant to make an appearance in the sequel, Bill & Ted Face the Music in late 2020 with Keanu playing a starring role.

So, Keanu Reeves is both a talented actor and bass player.  

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