Legendary actor Anthony Hopkins signs record deal ahead of debut album

With his debut single already released, the classical album is something he's been composing for over six decades.

Skiddle Staff

Date published: 10th Jul 2026

Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins has just announced that he will be releasing his first album after signing with record label Decca Classics. Titled 'Life Is A Dream', the album is set to be released on Friday 21st August. The album will feature orchestral music composed over six decades by the actor, including debut single, 'Bracken Road', which was released today (10th July).

In a statement made about the album, Hopkins said, "Music was my first desire, my first wish. I’ve been composing music all my life,” the actor said in a statement (via The Guardian). "Some of these pieces have lived with me for decades, and I still find myself returning to them. My whole life is a dream. Signing with Decca is the honour of a lifetime."

Said to be inspired by memories of his childhood in Margram in South Wales as well as "the streets, meadows, farmland, and mountains around his family home in the 1940s." First written in 1963 while working as an actor at the Liverpool Playhouse, Hopkins' music is performed by conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

His label said the actor has played piano since the age of four and started performing Beethoven and Chopin just a few years later. As a teenager, Hopkins would compose music for local plays.

Dudamel added that Hopkins is a "rare artist." He said: "[His] creative voice transcends any single medium. The same depth of imagination, humanity, and emotional truth that has defined his extraordinary work on stage and screen is present in his music."

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