The List of All Cameos in the 1980 Blues Brothers Movie

The Blues Brothers started out as an SNL skit and an after-hours jam, but by 1980, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd had a fully formed rhythm & soul revue concept. And they bet big on a brave new fourth-wall breaking meta idea — have a real Blues Brothers Band city-to-city tour just before the movie’s release. Due to Dan & John’s deep love of soul & blues, they had powerful musical bonds with some of the greats of the era, many of whom got cameos in the cult classic film.

Bluescentric has compiled a list of The Blues Brothers many movie cameos, from music legends to famed directors, not in order of appearance…

Famous Bandleaders

Some of the biggest names in music at the time had fun & memorable performances in The Blues Brothers movie. There’s some great Blues Brothers lore about Cab Calloway’s character guiding the young orphan brothers into music that included Elmore James guitar strings…

James Brown — Reverend Cleophus James (the preacher)

Aretha Franklin — Mrs. Murphy (diner owner)

Ray Charles — Ray (music store owner)

Cab Calloway — Curtis (the orphanage custodian)

John Lee Hooker — Street blues singer on Maxwell Street

Stax Records Legends

The Blues Brothers was really modeled after Memphis’ Stax Records soul & sound, so many members of Stax were both featured in the movie, and toured as a Blues Brother.

Steve Cropper — Guitarist (Booker T. & the M.G.’s)

Donald Duck Dunn — Bassist (Booker T. & the M.G.’s)

Willie Hall — Drummer (Bar-Kays / M.G.’s)

Blues & Soul Legends

The Blues Brothers wanted to pay homage to blues greats and the musicians they jammed with, a number of whom made it into the movie!

Matt “Guitar” Murphy — Guitarist in the Blues Brothers Band

Tom Malone — Trombone / band leader

Lou Marini — Saxophone

Alan Rubin — Trumpet

Paul Shaffer — Brief cameo as keyboardist (pre–Late Night era)

Actors & Special Appearances

There’s lots of famous actor cameos in Blues Brothers, and in many cases if you aren’t paying close attention, you’ll miss them! We didn’t include John Candy or Carrie Fisher in the list because they were cast, not cameos.

Steven Spielberg — Cook County Assessor’s Office clerk

John Landis — Trooper (and director of the film!)

Frank Oz — Corrections officer (Muppets & voice of Yoda)

Kathleen Freeman — The Penguin / nun

Twiggy — Chic woman in the band-recruitment montage

Henry Gibson — Head of the Illinois Nazis

Joe Walsh — Prisoner (uncredited cameo)