Rebel Wilson joins The Kooks onstage at Reading Festival as surprise special guest
Hollywood actor Rebel Wilson joined indie band The Kooks onstage at Reading Festival today (August 22nd) as their special guest, performing a rendition of Coolio’s 1995 hit ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’.
The set, which marked the band’s third appearance at the festival and took place on the mainstage, included several popular hits, like ‘Ooh La’ and ‘She Moves In Her Own Way’. After performing ‘Seaside’, frontman Luke Pritchard introduced special guest Wilson, hinting at it potentially being a part of a film.
“We’d like to film a scene of a movie with you,” Pritchard said as he introduced the actor to the stage. Continuing, “So we’d like to welcome to the stage the incredible, the unbelievable, the hugely successful, famous, beautiful popstar, Tazzie Young, otherwise known as Rebel Wilson!”
Taking to the stage, Wilson launched into a rendition of Coolio’s hit, rapping the verses while Pritchard sang the chorus. Discussing the collaboration, Pritchard also said the band are “huge fans of Rebel” and revealed that she initially got in touch, saying she wanted to “come and watch us”.
He then said it was his idea for her to join them on stage. “We asked her which song she wanted to sing, expecting her to pick one of ours,” he said. “She said the only song she knows all the words to is ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’… so ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ it was!” Wilson finished the set by spraying a bottle of champagne over the crowd.
Taking place until Sunday, this year’s headliners at Reading and Leeds Festival include Travis Scott, Chappell Roan, Hozier and Bring Me the Horizon. Limp Bizkit, AJ Tracey, Becky Hill, Amyl and The Sniffers, Wunderhorse, Lambrini Girls, The Dare, Trippie Redd and more are also on the bill to perform.
This year also marks several new ventures for the festival, including two new stages – The Smirnoff Stage in Reading and the Reload Stage in Leeds. These will support the festival’s focus on spotlighting electronic music, a current mainstay of underground culture in the UK.
American duo House of Protection were also initially on the bill to perform alongside this year’s extensive list of creatives, but they recently announced they had to back out due to financial reasons.
Taking to Instagram, the pair said, “Most of the funding to make this short trip possible was coming from our performance at the Heavy Music Awards, which unfortunately has been cancelled due to unforeseen and serious health issues affecting a key member of their team. Our condolences go out to that team member during this challenging time.”
They added, “We are deeply sorry to disappoint those who were excited to see us. Unfortunately, we simply don’t have the resources to make this happen at the moment. Your support means everything to us, and we want to assure you that we are already looking forward to making it up to you in the near future (Spain as well).”
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