
Scissor Sisters fans distracted as A-list guest 'blows roof off' at reunion gig
A familiar face from the silver screen 'blew the roof off' of The O2 in London during Scissor Sisters' reunion gig on Friday (May 23). The American pop group behind hits like I Can't Decide and I Don't Feel Like Dancin' has recently reformed and are playing a series of shows across the UK.
Their performance last night had fans screaming as the show featured an unlikely cameo appearance, and those who attended the concert have since shared footage showing the Hollywood legend unexpectedly appearing on screens around the arena.
As the band performed, the room went dark with strobe lights filling the arena. When the lights came back on, fans were taken aback to see Sir Ian McKellen – the acclaimed actor known for his work in X-Men, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Flushed Away – at the microphone during a rendition of the hit song, Invisible Light.
During his brief appearance, he read out the monologue he performed on the recorded version of the track.
The 85-year-old's appearance was met with rapturous applause from the attending public, with one user sharing footage of McKellen's performance to the crowd.
They wrote on X: "A concert cameo like no other. Sir Ian McKellen has blown The O2 roof off at The Scissor Sisters' 21st anniversary tour."
That wasn't the only celebrity appearance at the New York trio's concert last night. Rebecca Lucy Taylor, who performs under the stage name Self Esteem, also took to the stage and danced as the band played Take Your Mama. Self Esteem's album, A Complicated Woman, was released earlier this year.
One fan who attended the show wrote: "Absolute mayhem as Sir Ian McKellen does a dramatic reading of his lines from Invisible Light, one of my favourite Scissor Sisters songs of all time. Cried a little, just so blessed to see this."
Another excited fan wrote: " WHAT DO YOU MEAN SIR IAN MCKELLEN WENT ON STAGE WITH THE SCISSOR SISTERS LAST NIGHT?!"
Other fans who attended the show were remaining hopeful of new music from the band, with some saying a "haunting" version of a hit song could suggest new material is on the way.
One X user wrote: "A quiet, haunting version of Mary by the Scissor Sisters At the O2, London. What a night, what a show and I hope this means we're blessed with new music soon."
These performances are among Scissor Sisters' first since they went on hiatus in 2012. The band briefly returned in 2017 for the charity record Swerlk, and in 2019 the group topped the Billboard dance charts with Let's Have a Kiki.
Vocalist Jake Shears says hitting the top of the charts in the US was a huge moment for the band. In 2019, he said: "When that song came out and did what it did [hitting #1 on the Billboard dance charts], I was just like, 'Well, there it is, I guess we did it."
But the group has since returned, with Shears, Babydaddy, Del Marquis, and Randy Real touring the UK. Ana Matronic has not returned after the band confirmed it "didn't line up" for her to be a part of this year's tour.
The band have already played Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena, Glasgow's OVO Hydro, the International Centre in Bournemouth, Cardiff's Utilita Arena and Manchester's Co-op Live in addition to their most recent London show.
They have yet to play the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, the SSE Arena in Belfast and 3Arena in Dublin.
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Crawford first met DC Talk when the band was filming the music video for its first single, Heavenbound, in 1989. Crawford was working in a movie theater in the same Nashville mall the band was filming in. He loved their debut cassette and when they came by to catch a movie he introduced himself and gave them a discount. Crawford remembers his friend Jason Jones getting squeezed out of the management position of Evanescence in early 1999, and that 'it had something to do with Tait', but was unaware of specifics at the time. Back then, Crawford was an ambitious musician, and was being hired to write songs for solo projects for Tait and DC Talk's Toby Mac (the band went on 'hiatus' in 2000, and never officially reunited). Mac's project was later nominated for a Grammy and Dove Award. Crawford had also just signed his own record deal for his band, Webster County. Crawford recalls being distraught over a breakup one night in the fall 2000, and Tait inviting him over to hang out. 'You'll bounce back,' he recalls Tait saying, as he handed him a shot glass of Makers Mark whiskey. 'I told him 'just one,' and took the shot,' he recalled. 'I had a pretty high tolerance for alcohol at the time, but I blacked out shortly after I took that one drink.' Crawford said his memory picks up some time later, finding himself propped up on Tait's kitchen counter, his pants around his ankles. 'My legs were up in the air, and Tait was licking my anus,' he claimed. 'I said 'what are you doing, dude?' and then he said the weirdest thing: 'Hey man, did you catch the Colts game last week?' Like we were just hanging out, chatting.' Crawford said that he fled Tait's house, but has no memory of driving home. He said he is convinced that Tait drugged him. Two close friends of Crawford's have corroborated his story. One of them confirmed that Crawford told him details of the alleged assault at the time, but only named the perpetrator two years ago. The other friend said he was told the whole story at the time. 'I was never the same after that,' Crawford said. 'The joy and drive I had for music went away. Suddenly I had stage fright for the first time, brain-fog, anger issues, depression, and was even suicidal for a time. It ruined my career.' Despite having finished recording the album for his band, Crawford felt unable to perform as a musician, and the record was never released. Both Jones and Crawford recall thinking their assaults were isolated incidents and continued to have some involvement with Tait. Jones accepted a phone call from him when Tait's father passed away and he was distraught, and Crawford says he was 'love bombed' by Tait and succumbed to future advances. After not speaking for years, Tait re-entered his life in 2020. Crawford's wife was a musician herself, and Tait had offered to produce her album. 'I had buried the memory of that night for a long time,' Crawford said. 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an hour ago
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