Bridges studied piano at a young age, strongly encouraged by his mother. While working on the 1980 film "Heaven's Gate", he often played guitar with his co-star, singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson, between takes. His character in "Crazy Heart", Bad Blake, was later based partly on Kristofferson. In 1982, he voiced the character of Prince Lír in the animated film The Last Unicorn, and in that role sang on two songs, including a duet with Mia Farrow. He released his debut album "Be Here Soon" on January 1, 2000. In 2005, Bridges, known as "The Dude" in the film "The Big Lebowski", showed up at a Lebowski Fest in Los Angeles singing and playing the film's theme song written by Bob Dylan, "Man in Me".