Watch Scarlett Johansson perform ‘Just Like Honey’ with The Jesus and Mary Chain
When The Jesus and Mary Chain split up following a fight between brothers Jim and William Reid, it looked like they’d never perform together again. Time (and money) is the greatest healer, and eventually, the band put their issues behind them in 2007 to reunite for a performance at Coachella Festival.
From the offset of the band, Jesus and Mary Chain always had a fractious relationship and were regularly getting into disagreements while on tour. For many years, the Reid brothers managed to get through the pain and found a way to continue, but eventually, enough was enough. In 2006, Jim admitted to The Independent, “After each tour we wanted to kill each other, and after the final tour we tried”.
It seemed unthinkable they’d be able to bury the hatchet, but the offer to reunite in the Californian sun at Coachella in 2007. They’d had numerous chances to get on stage during their break-up, but the proposal to make a one-off appearance was too tempting to turn down. Initially, it was supposed to be just one concert, but 15 years later, they are surprisingly still active.
In 2019, Jim spoke to Cryptic Rock about their unlikely reunion at Coachella. Jim said: “Various people had tried to get the band together for several years before we played the Coachella show. Coachella had offered to get the band on the bill several years before it actually happened. I suppose the time just had to be right. There were a couple of things really. I always assumed William wouldn’t want to do it and he had always assumed that I wouldn’t want to do. The break-up was so fucking messy; at that time I could never have imagined playing with The Mary Chain again, but time really does heal as they say”.
He continued: “One night we were just talking on the phone and he was surprised to hear I would do it if he would. We just thought fuck it, let’s get on trying it. At the time it was a one-off, so I thought we will do it, if it works, then we’ll see what’s what; we play, we may hate each other, it just might not work. It was kind of dip our toe in the water and see what happens kind of deal. We didn’t try and kill each other, so we thought let’s do some more.”
Their reunion went swimmingly, and the highlight came when they were joined by an A-list guest, Scarlett Johansson, to perform their hit song, ‘Just Like Honey’, taken from Psychocandy. It was an unexpected but enthralling duet, with Johansson’s vocals stunningly complimenting the Scotsman.
Around this time, Johansson was trying to pivot from Hollywood into indie-folk ahead of her 2008 debut, Anywhere I Lay My Head, which even featured collaborations with David Bowie. Hopefully, she decides to return to the studio sometime soon, as this performance of ‘Just Likes Honey’ proves her musical talent.
