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23 Oct 2025
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23 Oct 2025
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Australian actress Rebel Wilson has said her surprise performance with rock band The Kooks at Reading Festival was planned 12 hours before taking to the stage.
Wilson, 45, best known for Pitch Perfect, joined the rock band on the Main Stage during their Friday set where she sang a rendition of Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise.
The performance went viral with the actress explaining she did not want to “butcher” one of their songs so did a cover instead.
Wilson said: “The Kooks are super popular in Australia, where I’m from, and they said they were open to a collab. Because we only worked this out 12 hours in advance, I didn’t want to butcher one of their songs… so I suggested we do Gangsta’s Paradise.
“The boys were really into it so we whipped up a rendition over the night.
“The fellas are so great. It was so fun.”
The Kooks are best known for hit songs Naive, She Moves In Her Own Way and Junk Of The Heart (Happy).
After Friday’s performance the band shared a video on Instagram and said: “Joined by the incomparable @rebelwilson to perform one of our favorites. Truly unforgettable, thank you @officialrandl.”
The Brighton-formed band are fronted by Luke Pritchard with Hugh Harris on guitar and Alexis Nunez on drums.
The Kooks released their debut album, Inside In/Inside Out, in 2006 which reached number two in the UK chart.
It was followed by 2008’s Konk which became the group’s first number one album in the UK.
The indie band will perform again at Leeds Festival on Saturday, along with Chappell Roan, Hozier and Rudim3ntal.
Saturday will also see the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, Becky Hill and Conan Gray play at Reading.
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