Dude! Jeff Bridges Sings for Real in EMI Record Deal

“Crazy Heart” star to release major label debut on Blue Note this summer

John Coltrane. Miles Davis. The Dude!

Jeff Bridges, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a fading country music star in "Crazy Heart," has inked a record deal.

Bridges' major label debut — produced by (who else?) T-Bone Burnett — will be released by EMI's legendary Blue Note Records, home to the aforementioned jazz legends, later this summer.

The yet-to-titled album will include several of Bridges original compositions — as well as tunes by Bo Ramsey and Tom Waits and others — and guest appearances by Rosanne Cash, Sam Phillips and Marc Ribot.

Burnett co-wrote several songs on the "Crazy Heart" soundtrack, winning an Oscar himself for "The Weary Kind."

Bridges is not the only actor-turned-country-crooner to be involved in a record deal. Gwyneth Paltrow, star of "Country Strong," was said to be close to nabbing a $900,000 contract with Atlantic Records last month to record her debut album, though it has yet to be finalized.

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