King Crimson’s Robert Fripp releases storming cover of ‘Celebrity Skin’ with Toyah Wilcox
The internet’s resident favourite power couple Toyah Wilcox and Robert Fripp have come together to issue the latest cover, which culminated in the form of ‘Celebrity Skin’. The clip is the latest in the series of performances that makes up the ‘Sunday Lunch’ series, an impasto of sorts that compensated for the lack of performance during the two-year pandemic.
This week, the duo are tackling ‘Celebrity Skin’, which is a song written by Courtney Love and Hole. The backdrop is once again decorated by a collection of banners that read: “Celebrity Fripp” and “Hail Queen Courtney”.
Wilcox is a singer of some repute, and Fripp is widely regarded as one of the most inventive guitarists of his generation. He helped spearhead the genre of progressive rock, by founding King Crimson. These days, he plays with Wilcox, as the pair have stormed through renditions of standards written by Queens of The Stone Age, Neil Young and The Who. The videos are known for their energetic performances and acrobatics from the singer in question, while the more silent guitar player arrives dressed in a series of outrageous outfits.
In his interview with Far Out, Bill Bruford claims that Fripp is more collaborative than he’s often credited as. “Robert would deny he was any kind of a bandleader,” Bruford explained. “He frequently has done that, and he wasn’t necessarily the ‘Great Guru’, which is a common sort of feeling that Robert sort of walked in with sheets and sheets of music, and we all sat down and played that. It was not the way at all.”
Fripp was also one of the guitarists’ who contributed to Peter Gabriel’s debut album. Gabriel reportedly needed “a Brit” to perform on the album because he was worried that the atmosphere was becoming too American for him. The guitarist produced Gabriel’s second album. and played lead guitar on ‘White Shadow’, the album’s most fondly remembered track.
Fripp later worked with David Bowie on Heroes and played the hook on the startling title track. Fripp remains King Crimson’s only permanent member, and the only person to play on every King Crimson album.
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