There are musicians who become actors and vice versa. In several cases, certain figures show talent for both areas… but there are others in which everything remains a simple special appearance. Having said that, Does it beat you that we remember some cameos of bands and singers in television series?
10 cameos of bands and musicians in television series
When a TV series starts to catch on and runs for seasons, we start seeing all kinds of guest stars. And we are not going to deny that it is quite exciting –or at least curious– see a music star appearing on our favorite show.
Whether the acting is good or bad, that’s another thing, hehe. But it is always interesting to see various television productions bringing talents of the stature of Foo Fighters, Chrissie Hynde de The Pretenders, Gorillaz, Billie Eilish y más... Well, let’s remember some cameos by well-known bands and musicians in television series.
Foo Fighters en ‘The Morning Show’
We start this list of cameos of musicians in television series with something recent. And it is that in the purest style of a real American morning program, The Morning Show the fence was blown and for the second season of the series (released in 2021) they took the Foo Fighters to introduce themselves as themselves.
Within fiction itself, having one of the biggest rock bands of the moment, without a doubt supposes a rating hit and an unforgettable moment for viewers. This was the appearance of the band:
The Killers en ‘The O.C.’
One of the quintessential 2000s teen dramas. The O.C. It was a real sensation at the time and we must say that music was a fairly important component at various times of the show.
As some may remember, for the second season we were introduced to a club called The Bait Shop and regularly, the production invited various bands to play there as cameos. In this way, the series brought The Walkmen and even Death Cab for Cutie, the latter being the favorite band of Seth Cohen’s character.
However, one of the most remembered cameos in this sense is that of The Killers, who in 2005 –before being the superstars they are today– made their appearance playing “Smile Like You Mean It” y “Mr Brightside”.
Sonic Youth en ‘Gossip Girl’
A drama centered on the whims and love mishaps of rich kids? The formula for success Gossip Girl. This show also brought us one of the most unexpected cameos of musicians in television series when we saw Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore y Sonic Youth tocando “Star Power”.
Kim herself appears in that chapter officiating a wedding. And that, of course, is a sample of the extreme purchasing power that the characters in that story had. As is known, Kim and Thurston were fans of the show, while Josh Schwartz (creator of Gossip Girl y The O.C.) was also a longtime fan of the band.
Chrissie Hynde a ‘Friends’
For 1995, Chrissie Hynde he was already a music legend for his work with The Pretenders. One of the best vocalists of all time, without a doubt. So she was a huge hit when she appeared that year as a guest on Friends playing a character named Stephanie Schiffer, who would be the momentary replacement for Phoebe Buffay to play at Central Perk.
Hynde’s character would later join Phoebe in playing that timeless tune known as “Smelly Cat,” which became a hallmark of the series. Curiously, Chrissie Hynde is one of the original writers of the song along with Lisa Kudrowalong with screenwriters Adam Chase and Betsy Borns.
Billie Eilish and ‘Swarm’
Swarm It was released only in 2023 and according to Donald Glover (one of its creators), somehow shares the fictional world of the series Atlanta. And well, it has received quite a lot of positive reviews, besides that has drawn attention for the special appearance of Billie Eilish as Eva.
The series centers on a girl obsessed with a pop star, to the point that fanaticism soon turns dark. Billie’s character named Eva, on the other hand, is described as a cult leader. loosely inspired by NXIVM. For her debut role as an actress in a big production, we must say that Eilish does it very well.
Sigur Rós in ‘Game of Thrones’ (with honorable mention for other band cameos in the TV series)
It is possible that when talking about musical cameos in Game of Thronesmost likely anyone will come to mind Ed Sheeran’s appearance as a Lannister soldier. But beyond that, the truth is that we could have a unique list of cameos by bands and musicians in that television series.
Will Champion from Coldplay, the members of Mastodon and even Sigur Rós they appeared briefly in the series. In the case of the Icelandic band, they appear in the chapter on the death of King Joffrey (one of the most satisfying indeed) in the fourth season, being the musical group to which the nefarious ruler throws some coins.
Coolio en ‘The Nanny’
The truth is we will never forget The Nanny because it is one of the funniest comedies of the 90s. Likewise, we will never forget when the rapper Coolio showed up having some rhymes and making Fran Fine and the butler Niles dance..
Chris Martin en ‘Modern Family’
there was a time where Modern Family It was one of the most popular comedies in the world. And his success was so much that yes: Coldplay’s Chris Martin himself was brought in to put together a cameo in which he sings to Phil Dunphywho considers him something like his musical hero.
Katy Perry in ‘How I Met Your Mother’ (and more musical cameos from other artists in the same series)
Another case that deserves its own list of cameos by bands and musical artists in TV series is that of How I Met Your Mother. The iconic series threw the house out of the window throughout its history, had a lot of guest appearances of all kinds.
But when it comes to music, there we could see Enrique Iglesias, Carrie Underwood, Britney Spears y Katy Perry. The latter played Honey, a girl baptized with that name by Ted because he can’t remember her real name.
Justin Bieber on ‘CSI’
We couldn’t leave this moment off the list. It was in 2011 when Justin Bieber appeared on CSI. His character: a troubled teenager with terrorist tendencies, among other things. And yes, the years go by but we don’t forget that scene in which they shoot him left and right.
Special (and rare) mention: Gorillaz in ‘Rebelde’
Strange moments of Mexican television: the occasion when Gorillaz appeared on Rebel. Televisa’s “excellent” youth telenovela had a cameo by the virtual group led by Damon Albarn, as part of a rather rare interview with the objective of promoting the album at that time Demon Days (here we tell you more).
Curious fact: the video for “Dare” also premiered in that rare episode of the novel. One of the most ‘curious’ cameos of bands or musicians that have been seen in the history of Mexican television, we have no doubt.
