Cliff Notes – Iconic actor leaves fans ‘in tears’ after surprise appearance at Scissor Sisters’ London gig
- Sir Ian McKellen made a surprise appearance at The O2 Arena, performing a dramatic reading of his monologue from Scissor Sisters’ song "Invisible Light," captivating the audience.
- The actor, alongside British musician Self Esteem, also joined the band for a rendition of their hit "Take Your Mama," eliciting emotional reactions from fans in attendance.
Iconic actor leaves fans ‘in tears’ after surprise appearance at Scissor Sisters’ London gig
Scissor Sisters were joined by a very special guest on Friday (Picture: PA Wire)
Sir Ian McKellen unleashed scenes of ‘absolute mayhem’ at The O2 Arena in London as he took to the stage with Scissor Sisters on Friday.
The thespian, 86, wowed fans with a surprise reading of his dramatic monologue from the song Invisible Light.
Released in 2010 as a single from their third studio album, Night Work, the song features a magnetic spoken-word performance by the Lord of The Rings and X-Men star.
‘Babylon. Where bricks of mortar diamonds tower,’ the actor intones in the original track. ‘Sailors lust and swagger, blazing in woman’s beam.’
With the band – which now consists of consists of Jake Shears, Babydaddy, Del Marquis and Randy Real – currently touring arenas in the UK and Ireland, Sir Ian joined in for a reprise of his lines.
Wearing a yellow tie over a cream-coloured suit, the icon of stage and screen had fans weeping as his voice echoed throughout the arena.
Sir Ian McKellen joined Scissor Sisters on stage at The O2 (Picture: Scissor Sisters)
The actor features on their 2010 song Invisible Light (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
Sir Ian didn’t come alone either – and was joined by British musician Self Esteem, who assisted the band in a rendition of their 2004 hit Take Your Mama.
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The veteran actor was on fine form – and seemed fully recovered after his terrifying fall from stage during a performance of Player Kings in June last year.
As per his 2010 performance, he began with a booming declaration of the word ‘Babylon!’
The Cats star, who had suffered a chipped vertebrae and fractured wrist in his fall, appeared to relish every word as he spoke of ‘painted whores,’ ‘sexual gladiators’ and ‘fiercely old party children’ – finishing with a flourish as colourful disco lights bombarded the arena.
Posting to their Instagram page in the aftermath, Scissor Sisters wrote: ‘The big one. It was always going to be special coming back to our spiritual home – made even more so by having a ton of family in the house.
‘From all three Scissor Mamas (Nancy, Freida and Judy) to Scissor brothers, sisters, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins and a whole lot of chosen family who have been there on this journey since day 1.
‘It was a dream come true to have @ianmckellen reprise his legendary Invisible Light monologue and for @selfesteemselfesteem to come bounce around for Take Your Mama. Pure magic, thank you.’
The group have reunited, 25 years after their debut (Picture: Scissor Sisters/Instagram)
Those who were there shared their joy at Sir Ian’s surprise performance on social media afterwards.
‘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,’ wrote lordisthisfree on X.
‘A concert cameo like no other ✂️ Sir Ian McKellen has blown The O2 roof off at The Scissor Sisters’ 21st anniversary tour,’ said JoshuaGarfield.
‘Mary, Comfortably Numb and Ian McKellen on stage: scissor sisters can’t be topped quite honestly,’ said hannahtomes_.
‘It was utterly fantastic. Thank you so much for a wonderful evening. So many highlights,’ wrote mattholly_2 on Instagram.
‘We were there. It was epic. It was joyous. It was gay. It was loud. It was filth. We were at your last gig at the Roundhouse in Camden in 2012 and was waiting for this. I loved every second,’ said dvd.a.g.
The group – which included co-vocalists Jake Shears and Ana Matronic – originally split in 2012 (Picture: WireImage)
The band announced news of their reunion tour in October last year, sending fans of the 00s glam rock group into overdrive.
However, many were disappointed by one notable absence – co-vocalist Ana Matronic.
As news broke of their reunion, the band confirmed that Ana wouldn’t be joining them for their 21st anniversary tour.
A statement from the 50-year-old singer read: ‘People familiar with my story and career arc will know that in the heart of this Showgirl lies a giant Nerd.
‘In the past decade, my nerd self has taken the wheel and is now driving my career.’
She went on to explain how her schedule was already filled up with the history podcast she hosts, meaning that she would be unable to take time off for the shows.
However, there was no animosity between Ana and her former bandmates, with multi-instrumentalist Babydaddy revealing he felt ‘proud’ of her for saying no.
‘I don’t think it’s really for us to question or push her to do something that doesn’t feel right,’ he continued. ‘We should all be doing this for the right reasons and with the right feeling in mind.
‘So I’m actually really proud of her for being able to say, “I don’t think this is right for me”.’
Meanwhile, co-lead vocalist Jake said: ‘Her spirit is gonna be with us. Nothing stays the same. One of my mottos is “You can never go home again” and I think there’s so much truth to that.
‘It will be a different thing, and that’s very exciting to me, even though there’s a sadness to it as well. But it’s going to be exciting to see how it changes.’