Please enjoy these wholesome clips of your favourite musicians on ‘The Muppets’

Prince, Debbie Harry, Dave Grohl have all hung out with Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang and it warms our hearts

The Muppets have delighted and amused us all for generations, with the inimitable likes of Kermit, Miss Piggy and Gonzo all having charmed their way into our hearts in one way or another.

The arrival of The Muppet Show in 1976 brought the hi-jinks of Jim Henson’s puppet creations to screens across the world on a regular basis, followed by Muppets Tonight in the 1990s and The Muppets in 2015. All were magnets for big-name celebrities from across the entertainment world, who scrambled for the prized guest spot on each episode.

With the fuzzy loveable gang set to return for a new series, Muppets Now, on the newly launched Disney+, music’s A-listers will surely continue to link up on-screen with the timeless puppets on our screens soon.

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Here’s NME‘s favourite musician and Muppet crossovers.

Debbie Harry

The Blondie legend appeared on The Muppet Show in 1980 to sing a duet with a banjo-playing Kermit, with the two taking on the sickly-sweet ‘Rainbow Connection’ from The Muppet Movie.

Most wholesome moment: “I just dig songs about rainbows.” — Debbie Harry

Elton John

Elton John performing his 1976 Kiki Dee duet ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ with Miss Piggy while wearing an eye-dazzling pink suit? Count us in.

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Most wholesome moment: Elton calling Miss Piggy “a wonderful lady I’ve always wanted to work and sing with”.

Prince

The late, great Prince was given his very own Muppets Tonight episode in September 1997, when he was going by the name ‘The Artist Formerly Known as Prince’. Despite the strict brief that was issued to the showrunners by Prince’s management (they apparently weren’t allowed to look at Prince directly or call him anything but ‘The Artist’), the ‘Purple Rain’ musician had a blast making the episode.

“He was only half again bigger than most of the Muppets!” executive producer and writer Kirk Thatcher joked (via Ultimate Prince). “He and his people seemed to get the jokes and enjoyed the fun we were having with him… He just smiled and giggled quietly at the script and seemed very open to it all.”

Most wholesome moment: Prince performing the tear-jerking ‘She Gave Her Angels’ — before breaking out into a rendition of ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ with the Muppets cast.

Joan Jett

Joan Jett‘s guest appearance on The Muppets came at the tail-end of an episode about, well, tails — Miss Piggy’s, to be precise. Jett’s performance of ‘Bad Reputation’ saw the whole Muppets cast and audience donning Piggy-style fake tails in solidarity with the character in an episode which dealt with issues of self-esteem, body positivity and TV censorship.

Most wholesome moment: Jett dedicating ‘Bad Reputation’ to Miss Piggy, naturally.

Alice Cooper

School is quite literally out at the moment, which is of course a message Alice Cooper has been preaching for many, many years. Back in 1978, his appearance on The Muppet Show was memorable if slightly haunting, as he performed a discordant version of ‘School’s Out’ alongside some rather terrifying human-sized Muppets.

Most wholesome moment: The joy on Alice’s face mid-performance as, for some reason, he strips down to a hole-y red leotard.

Johnny Cash

An entire episode of The Muppet Show was built around Johnny Cash‘s guest appearance back in 1981. While your eye will be rather unfortunately drawn to the Confederate flag that’s hanging at the back of the set, Cash’s grinning performance of ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’ — which plays out as a sheet-wearing Gonzo rides among a herd of cows — will still bring a smile to your face.

Most wholesome moment: The glee on Cash’s face as Gonzo charges around in front of him during what was surely one of the more unique live engagements of his esteemed career.

Coolio

The ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ rapper guested alongside the late US stand-up comic Don Rickles on a 1997 edition of Muppets Tonight — there’s a sentence we never thought we’d write. Coolio capped off his guest spot by performing the forgotten rap-funk banger ‘1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New)’ with help from Seymour, Pepe the King Prawn, Clifford, Gonzo, Rizzo the Rat and Bobo the Bear.

Most wholesome moment: The addition of the line “Let a Muppet know” to the lyrics.

Weezer

Not strictly part of Muppets canon, but Weezer‘s joyful 2002 video for ‘Keep Fishin” is just too fun to exclude from our list. From Miss Piggy kidnapping drummer Patrick Wilson to the bobbing penguins which sit on top of the band’s amps, even Statler and Waldorf get involved at the end: “Hey, they ain’t half-bad.” “Nope: they’re all bad!” Ho, ho, ho.

Most wholesome moment: Kermit and Gonzo wearing custom-size Weezer t-shirts.

Jack White

The White Stripes man appeared on the last-ever edition of The Muppets in March 2016 to perform ‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life’ in a bid to help Kermit get back together with Miss Piggy.

Most wholesome moment: Well, the Stevie Wonder cover — and the show of support from every Muppet wearing a ‘Love’ t-shirt — did eventually help Kermit and Miss Piggy get back together, so…

Dave Grohl

Last but by no means least is Dave Grohl, who simply had to maintain his Nicest Guy In Rock™ reputation by appearing on The Muppets in December 2015. Grohl and the Muppets band perform the Foo Fighters‘ ‘Learn To Fly’ as Gonzo is fired out of cannon from the roof of a TV studio.

Most wholesome moment: Dave and Animal’s drum-off. It’s like Whiplash, but with muppets, and ends with the pair destroying their kits and declaring it a draw.

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