William Shatner, Brad Paisley join forces for 'Love & Other Mysteries' | Exclusive
William Shatner, Brad Paisley join forces for 'Love & Other Mysteries' | Exclusive
Bryan Alexander, USA TODAYFri, July 31, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC
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William Shatner and country star Brad Paisley are reuniting for a new chapter in the galaxy's unlikeliest musical friendship, teaming up on Shatner's intimate spoken-word album "Love & Other Mysteries," due out Aug. 21, USA TODAY can exclusively reveal.
Paisley, 53, and Shatner, 95, have collaborated on several acclaimed musical projects over the past two decades, beginning with Paisley co-writing and performing the song "Has Been," the title track from Shatner's 2004 spoken-word album. Shatner has also made memorable cameos in Paisley’s music videos, “Celebrity” in 2003 and “Online” in 2007.
But three-time Grammy winner Paisley knew this latest album would boldly go to new emotional worlds with the nonagenarian "Star Trek" icon known for his theatrical line delivery and campy sense of humor.
"Bill came to me and said, 'Brad, I've written some songs, and they are my statement about life,'" says Paisley. "I've always said 'yes' when [Shatner] has anything going on. One thing I've learned is it will be unexpected, innovative and it will be a blast."
Making "Love & Other Mysteries" lived up to the billing. Shatner prepared 15 spoken-word pieces which were "almost like poems," says Paisley — dealing with everything from his joy for life, thoughts on death, and his famed 2021 trip into space aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket.
"I said that I've got something really special," Shatner recalls. "These are deeply personal songs dealing with my life, starting from me leaving home."
The 2025 Los Angeles wildfires forced the project out of Shatner's California home state and into the Nashville home studio that Paisley shares with his actress wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley. Paisley says he even built an extra vocal recording booth in advance "because I knew Bill was coming."
Paisley and fellow producer Luke Wooten worked out musical arrangements with the band led by Paisley, Dawes' singer and guitarist Taylor Goldsmith and Nashville legend Gordon Mote on keyboards.
Shatner recorded the spoken words aloud without accompaniment, "which is already pretty priceless," says Paisley. Meanwhile, the band arranged appropriate music to fit the words.
"We took his vocals and his rhythm and arranged them into this narration, with some rock, some country feel, some ethereal or jazzy," says Paisley. "I don’t know what it is. It's spoken-word meets beat poetry that goes to inspirational at times."
When it came time to record, Shatner and the band had the bulk of the recording work done in one marathon session.
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"We were floored that night listening to it. Truly, whatever blossomed, I never expected it to work this well that quickly," says Paisley. "I'm really proud of it. It's the best thing we've ever done together. In many ways it feels like his musical memoir."
Shatner too is moved by the work, completed ahead of the "Star Trek" 60th anniversary next month.
"These songs and this poetry are a creative outlet for me," he says. "What they represent is life-changing."
Shatner and Paisley are unlikely friends for the ages
Paisley is thrilled to be have been friends with Shatner for decades, even visiting the actor at his Los Angeles home for his vaunted Monday Night Football events.
"He's got this 20-foot screen and he brings in catered food," says Paisley. "One week it was Bill and ("Star Trek: Picard" star) Patrick Stewart sitting on chairs in the middle of the room. I thought that place was going to go into Warp Drive."
The friendship and appreciation has only grown stronger over the decades.
"It was hard for me to realize this is a real guy who is also hungry for life in a way I've never seen in anybody, especially at his age," says Paisley.
Even at 95, hosting the energetic Shatner "is a bit like having a tornado in your home," he adds. "He always has 500 things going."
The visit was a thrill for his wife, Williams-Paisley, along with William "Huck" Huckleberry, 19, and Jasper Warren, 17, the couple's two sons. At the end of the recording evening, Paisley played the music for his family in the living room.
"I said, 'Sit down and listen to this,'" Paisley recalls. "They were floored and asked me, 'Dad, why don't you do stuff like this?'"
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: William Shatner, Brad Paisley join forces for 'Love & Other Mysteries' | Exclusive
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