Foo Fighters are branching out into film: The superstar rock band’s new horror comedy Studio 666 hits theaters February 25. But in-between the decapitations, electrocutions, stabbings, chainsaw murders and one very unpleasant scene involving a barbecue grill, you’ll find a cameo by none other than Lionel Richie.
How’d that happen? Turns out it was all a happy accident.
Head Foo Dave Grohl tells Entertainment Tonight that Lionel was written into the original script, but the screenwriters didn’t know that Dave actually knows Lionel in real life. “When I read the script I was like, ‘Oh my God, let’s just text him!’ So I texted him and I’m like, ‘Dude we’re making a horror film. You want to be in it?’ And he was like, ‘Absolutely.’ And that was it.”
It’s not clear how Dave and Lionel know each other, but between them, they probably know everyone who’s anyone in music, so it’s not surprising. They also have something in common: Dave and Foo Fighters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, while Lionel is a nominee for induction this year.
In addition to Foo Fighters, Studio 666 also stars Will Forte, Jenna Ortega and Whitney Cummings, and is about the band recording an album in a haunted mansion. There, Dave becomes possessed, turns into a monster and kills everyone in sight. In the trailer, you can see Lionel telling Dave, “We all have writer’s block!”
Meanwhile, Lionel returns to TV this weekend as a judge for the 20th season of American Idol on ABC.
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