Kelly Clarkson Throws Up the ‘W,’ Crushes Kellyoke Version Of ‘Say It Ain’t So’ With Weezer
Written by djfrosty on May 16, 2024
Kelly Clarkson is basically in Weezer now. On Wednesday’s (May 15) Kelly Clarkson Show, the singer joined the group’s singer, Rivers Cuomo, and drummer Patrick Wilson (on guitar) for a run through “Say It Ain’t So” from the band’s iconic self-titled “Blue” album. Cuomo and Wilson loved their stop-in so much, they tweeted that “@kellyclarkson gave us a run for our money on Kellyoke.”
Weezer are in the midst of a promo run for the 30th anniversary of their Ric Ocasek-produced debut, which featured such beloved classics as “Undone – The Sweater Song,” “Buddy Holly” and “Holiday.”
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The Kellyoke performance opened with Rivers crooning the song’s mellow first verse, with Clarkson joining in on the “ooh yeah… all right” refrain before slathering the second verse with her buttery soul. “Flip on the telly/ Wrestle with Jimmy/ Something is bubbling/ Behind my back/ The bottle is ready to blow,” she belted as Wilson and Cuomo cranked up the guitars and Clarkson joined the bespectacled rocker on the swoony chorus. The back-and-forth between Clarkson and Cuomo was indeed formidable and Rivers was not kidding when he said the show’s host added some serious spice to the performance.
“I’ve literally never been cool in my life until now,” gushed Clarkson afterwards, who came dressed to play with the cardigan-loving duo in her own brown cropped button-up sweater and jeans.
The duo also sat on the couch with Clarkson to discuss the album’s anniversary, but not before Kelly implored her audience to go see Weezer live on their Voyage to the Blue Planet tour with the Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr. “You put on a hell of a show, I’m just saying,” Clarkson told them, recounting a gig she saw several years ago that blew her mind.
Fellow guest Brooke Shields also got emotional thinking about how much Weezer has meant to her, revealing that she was blasting their music on her way to the studio that morning. The 10-minute segment quickly went off the rails, with Clarkson laughing about their earlier rehearsals for the performance, where she feared her cranked-to-11 energy hilariously clashed with Cuomo and Wilson’s hovering-around-2 chill vibe.
After bonding with Shields about their mutual love of Pickleball, Cuomo and Wilson sat politely as Clarkson asked about the origin of the band’s name (it was Cuomo’s nickname from his dad as a child), noting that she called her sister “Weese” when they were little. Kelly also made another connection, telling Cuomo that her daughter’s name is River Rose, with Rivers dead-panning that he was, indeed named because, as she said, he was born “between two rivers… y’all lived between two rivers, is that true?”
“Yeah, here in Manhattan,” Cuomo said straight-faced, as the audience, and Shields, broke into bellowing laughter at the singer’s plainspoken geographical response. “I really wanna host a show with you,” Clarkson said as Shields covered her eyes and mouth while guffawing at the delightfully awkward exchange.
“Uh… should I continue?” Cuomo asked sheepishly to more face-covering giggles from Shields, who, not for nothing, noted that she was named after a babbling brook. Spoiler alert: Cuomo was actually named after three soccer players from the Italian and Brazilian teams who played in the 1970 World Cup. “So I thought we had something in common there too, but turns out no,” Clarkson said. “I’m an Aquarius,” Wilson interjected helpfully. Later, Cuomo and Shields also (kind of) bonded over both appearing in productions of Grease, as Clarkson could not stop enthusing about how much she was loving the chat.
“This is literally my favorite panel we’ve ever had,” Clarkson chortled as she fell off her couch in convulsive laughter at the end of the segment.
Watch Weezer on the Kelly Clarkson Show below.