Culture

Lady Gaga performs Smelly Cat with Lisa Kudrow in hilarious Friends reunion duet

Lisa Kudrow Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga Lisa Kudrow sing “Smelly Cat” during Friends: The Reunion special, debuting on 27 May 2021. (HBO Max/Friends: The Reunion)

Lady Gaga joined Lisa Kudrow for a duet performance of the iconic “Smelly Cat” song on the highly-anticipated Friends: The Reunion special.

The two-hour special is filled with loads of guest cameos, from David Beckham and Kit Harington to BTS and Justin Beiber. Diehard fans of the show were waiting to see if the reunion would pay homage to “Smelly Cat”, an iconic tune performed by Lisa Kudrow’s character Phoebe Buffay. The song was introduced in the second season of Friends, and Phoebe frequently performed “Smelly Cat” throughout the show’s ten-year run.

The reunion special did not disappoint as Kudrow’s duet with Lady Gaga was a true and heartwarming tribute to “Smelly Cat”. Lady Gaga belted out the lyrics to the song while playing the guitar and sitting on the legendary Central Park couch. Kudrow joked the “Born This Way” singer’s rendition wasn’t “too bad”.

Then in an extra twist, Lady Gaga and Kudrow were joined by several gospel singers in a beautiful rendition of the final lyrics of “Smelly Cat”.

At the end of the performance, Kudrow hilariously stated: “I still think it’s better when it’s just me.”

Friends and Lady Gaga fans alike were delighted by the performance.

One fan pointed out that Lady Gaga did the “nose gesture from A Star Is Born” during her appearance on the Friends reunion special, adding “I may be losing my mind”.

After the duet, Lady Gaga thanked Kudrow for playing Phoebe. She said: “Thank you for being the person for all of us on Friends who was – I’m not sure if this is the right way to say it – but the different one or the one who was really herself.”

To which, Kudrow responded by thanking Lady Gaga for “carrying it on”.

Friends reunion director Ben Winston said in an interview with Variety that he and Kudrow went through a list of possible musical guests for “Smelly Cat”. But he said the two both agreed that Lady Gaga “would be the ultimate” guest because “she associates with and feels close to Phoebe in so many ways, which Gaga says on the show”.

“That was a really beautiful moment,” Winston said. “And Lady Gaga jumped at the chance to do it. We sat there with the two guitars with Lisa and her and worked it out there and then.”

Friends: The Reunion airs on HBO Max on Thursday (27 May), and fans in the UK can watch the show on Sky One at 8pm. It will also be available to stream on NOW from the same time.

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