Acting veteran Patrick Stewart has become a cowboy country singer for what appears to be a charity stunt.
The 75-year-old actor posted a picture of himself dressed in traditional cowboy gear on Twitter and shared a link to a video on YouTube called P Stew's Cowboy Classics. In the caption, he wrote, "Happy 4th 'merica, yer a mighty fine country. Luv, Cowboy Pat.... #HappyIndependenceDay."
In the video Patrick sings clips from a range of country hits with a cowboy accent, including Frankie Laine's Rawhide to Johnny Cash's Ghost Riders in the Sky, while he appears to be in the desert, outside a sheriff's office or by a herd of cows thanks to green screen technology. He can also be seen performing with a backing band on a stage complete with bales of hay.
“Now known as England’s premier cowboy singer, Sir Stewart now brings his music Stateside in this amazing collection,” a voiceover says.“Sometimes it takes an Englishman to teach us what’s great about being an American.”
The clips form a mock infomercial advertising his 'albums' Patrick Stewart's Cowboy Classics Vol 1 and 2, plus Cowboy Pat's Timeless Ballads, a Christmas album and a duets record, which jokingly features collaborations with Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and his singer wife Sunny Ozell.
Patrick and Sunny also perform a snippet of their joint track, I'm an Old Cowhand, in the video.
The YouTube page features a link to Pstewsings.com, where the album can be 'bought', but a notice on the advert reads, "Dang shame! Sold out!" However, a sample of the albums, featuring five "limited edition classics", can be bought online for $10 (£8). All proceeds will be donated to the International Rescue Committee organisation "to help crisis-affected families in Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere around the world."
