Bill Murray Says His Nine-Man Band The Blood Brothers Is Full of "All-Stars"
The first time Bill Murray played with the band was in an impromptu moment.
Published Dec. 4 2025, 2:45 p.m. ET
When Bill Murray performed on the Christmas in Nashville special that aired after the televised Christmas in Rockefeller Center event, it was the first time some longtime fans saw Bill perform on stage with a band. So is his group, Bill Murray & His Blood Brothers, real? And, for that matter, are any of his actual brothers in the band?
Even though he has some brothers who are also actors, Bill's actual blood brothers are not part of The Blood Brothers band, which was its name before Bill joined them. But the band is the real deal, and they were making music long before Bill joined the fold. Now that he's part of it, though, music is clearly the next main stage of Bill's career, especially with multiple performances under his belt.
Bill Murray's band was originally formed in 2002.
Not only can Bill act and create iconic characters that generations have loved for years, but apparently, he can sing too. According to NBC, the group The Blood Brothers was formed by guitarists Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia in 2002. Bill joined them on-stage in 2024 at the Murray Brothers' Caddyshack Golf Tournament. Now, apparently, he's part of the band.
In October 2025, Bill spoke to the Boston Herald about the band. He shared that the group is "made up of all-stars" when it comes to music. Founding member Mike Zito was originally in the band Royal Southern Brotherhood, and he has been making music since the early 2000's. The other founding guitarist Albert Castiglia is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, according to his website.
Devon Allman, the son of Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band, is also part of the group. Per the Boston Herald, it was Mike in the band who invited Bill to join them officially. Now, he's part of the group, and it also doesn't hurt that Bill's A-lister name is forever intertwined with the band's new name.
Billy Murray has made music with other artists before.
In January 2025, Bill went on tour with Bill Murray & His Blood Brothers for the first time. According to AXS TV, their songs include covers of songs by artists like Bob Dylan and The Kinks. But, before that, he performed a different kind of music with a different group of artists. Well, sort of. In 2018, he went on a world tour with cellist Jan Vogler, violinist Mira Wang, and pianist Vanessa Perez.
They also filmed some of it for their music documentary New Worlds: The Cradle of Civilization. It may not have been Bill's first official foray into music, and it's a far cry from the blues music he performs with his band now, but it showed his musically inclined side and his passion for something outside of acting.
The tour, which featured collaborations of music and also some literature readings from Bill on-stage, was a different format of performing altogether for the longtime actor.
In February 2022, he told Rolling Stone, "It was a real experience to bring it around. I felt like this old Shakespearean actor at the turn of the 20th century, down there in New Orleans, playing shows for people."