Chris Higgins
The Late Movies: Musicians and Their Awesome Sesame Street Appearances
by Chris Higgins - July 29, 2009 - 10:00 PM

The Late Movies

I keep coming across musicians who have appeared on Sesame Street (usually singing the Alphabet Song), and the performances are uniformly awesome. (One of the best videos from my Late Movies segment last week was Stevie Wonder live on Sesame Street, and in a previous week, Paul Simon was on Sesame Street.) I’ve collected some favorites here for your viewing enjoyment.

Feist, “1 2 3 4″

Feist performs her hit “1 2 3 4″ with a twist — it’s now more specifically about counting than about growing up. Totally adorable.

Queen Latifah, “The Letter O”

Safari Sisters in the house! “Now, one day I was chillin’ on Sesame Street, hanging wit’ my homegirls, rockin’ to the beat, when Telly came along and he was feelin’ kinda blue, he said, ‘I lost my Letter O, what should I do?’” Latifah’s advice: learn some words that include the letter O!

R.E.M., “Furry Happy Monsters”

They pulled some monster Muppets out of storage (including a B-52′s Kate Pierson monster) for this Sesame Street-ified rendition of their hit “Shiny Happy People.”

Norah Jones, “Don’t Know Y”

This is pretty cute — “Don’t Know Why” becomes a song about missing the letter Y, spelling words like Yarn and Yet.

Ray Charles and Friends, “The Alphabet Song”

Only Ray Charles can make the Alphabet Song soulful and sort of wistful. Includes guest appearances by Patrick Stewart, Ellen Degeneres, Tony Bennett, and more. “Won’t you sing along with me?”

Patti LaBelle, “The Alphabet Song” (Gospel Version)

Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Kermit the Frog, “African Alphabet Song”

Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, “The Alphabet Song”

Slightly similar to the above, but with no Kermit and no fancy visuals.

Spin Doctors, “Two Princes”

Um. I guess the Spin Doctors’ singer got a haircut and kinda needs work.

Tilly and the Wall, “The Alphabet Song”

Indie rock band Tilly and the Wall, most notable for its lack of a drummer (they use tap-dancers instead to keep the beat), perform a modified Alphabet Song.

Who Did I Leave Out?

Share your favorite musical memories of Sesame Street in the comments!

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Comments (52)

  1. OPERA Singer SAMUEL RAMEY…

    The attached YouTube clip always makes me smile!

    posted by Amy on 7-29-2009 at 10:10 pm

  2. Goo Goo Dolls

    posted by Shannon on 7-29-2009 at 10:11 pm

  3. James Blunt sings “My Triangle.”

    posted by CJ on 7-29-2009 at 10:18 pm

  4. I personally love when the Goo Goo Dolls were on Seasame Street! They performed “Pride”(“Slide”) with Elmo..it was AWESOME!

    posted by Vault on 7-29-2009 at 10:18 pm

  5. Alicia Keys serenading Elmo…priceless!

    posted by Sandra on 7-29-2009 at 10:29 pm

  6. I’m hard-pressed to think of anything that beats “Put Down The Duckie” for sheer volume of celbrity cameos (many of which are musicians, so it fits the category).

    posted by Ben on 7-29-2009 at 11:07 pm

  7. John Mayer and Elmo!!

    posted by Ashley on 7-29-2009 at 11:13 pm

  8. Hootie and the Blowfish singing “Hold My Hand” (about crossing the street) was quite nice, too. (“Sesame Street: Hootie And The Blowfish Sing Hold My Hand” or follow me.)

    Oh, and HatB look like that? Guess my imaginary picture of them was *way* off.

    posted by CJ the Crosser on 7-29-2009 at 11:28 pm

  9. Stevie Wonder, ‘Superstition’!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE

    posted by Mike on 7-29-2009 at 11:50 pm

  10. Aww the memories!

    Oh, and check this out: http://www.ticklehands.com/

    posted by JD on 7-29-2009 at 11:51 pm

  11. Johnny Cash!

    “Don’t Take Your Ones To Town” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML686-Dst08

    posted by H on 7-29-2009 at 11:56 pm

  12. James Taylor

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uQa4dvrg1E&videos=7lpHzV16OCM&playnext_from=TL&playnext=1

    posted by morosa on 7-30-2009 at 12:00 am

  13. i saw a video of dizzy gillespie, although i believe it was the muppets in the 70′s. still pretty cool

    posted by patrick on 7-30-2009 at 12:43 am

  14. This is the number one mental_floss post EVER. I started (along with my baby sis) Montessori school already knowing how to read, thanks to Sesame Street. Good to know that the show hasn’t lost any of it’s charm. Many thanks to the mental_floss staff for posting! :D

    posted by Bob on 7-30-2009 at 12:47 am

  15. Johnny Cash

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML686-Dst08

    posted by Justin Lee on 7-30-2009 at 12:54 am

  16. Ok, my favorite celebrity appearances on Sesame street are Yo Yo Ma ( I play cello now because of this), James Taylor, Johnny Cash, and my most favorite of all? The letter U song with Smokey Robinson.

    posted by Charissa on 7-30-2009 at 1:14 am

  17. The REM song is one of my all-time favorite Sesame Street bits. It gets stuck in my head for days and I never get sick of it.

    posted by eric! on 7-30-2009 at 1:16 am

  18. @mike – YES. That indeed is one of the finest musical performances ever recorded anywhere.

    I also have a vague memory of Parliament/Funkadelic doing a counting song… did I dream this?

    posted by dai on 7-30-2009 at 1:36 am

  19. OMG!

    Opera star Denyce Graves sings La Habanera with Elmo as “Opera Lullabye”:
    “Before this monster, starts to snore, he’s going to be a little Toreador!”

    and Andrea Bocelli sings “Time to Say Goodnight” with Elmo… and then kisses him! Gets me (snif snif) everytime!

    posted by Mare on 7-30-2009 at 2:23 am

  20. I saw jack black on there a couple weeks ago. He was singing about triangles I think.

    posted by Joe on 7-30-2009 at 2:50 am

  21. Los Lobos sang Elmo and the Lavender Moon.
    Very hip.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhzh2LHPzOo

    posted by Amy on 7-30-2009 at 3:12 am

  22. Melissa Etheridge…”Like the Way U Do”
    This stopped me in my tracks, when I first became a mother…fantastic!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i80BIspvJ4

    posted by Amy on 7-30-2009 at 3:34 am

  23. How could you forget Smokey Robinson? The letter “U”. That scared me as a child and it took me forever as an adult to figure out why that song “U really got a hold of me” scared the bajeebies out of me! I’m not the only one…..look it up on youtube….there should be a support group for us children of the late 70s, early 80s that watched this. I thought Smokey was going to die by strangulation….and that U was creepy and stalkerish……sooooo scary!

    posted by Kim W. on 7-30-2009 at 4:29 am

  24. There was a commercial that Sesame Street had made with Rosemary Clooney singing the Sesame Street Theme in her slow, smooth, sultry manner. (Hoots the Owl provided the sax, and Big Bird provided the “Rosemary Clooney, but… you’re here!”)

    posted by Michael on 7-30-2009 at 6:55 am

  25. The Backstreet Boys + Elmo = YES!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNvGc7onL7Q&feature=related

    Don’t forget about the Alphabet Song with India Arie
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCZoEqJbizo&feature=related

    posted by Kate on 7-30-2009 at 7:20 am

  26. Jaime Foxx singing the Alphabet song with Elmo, but prior to that there is some confusion over who is Jaime Foxx (one Jaime is actually a fox, where one is a duck and then there’s the actual man).

    posted by Beth on 7-30-2009 at 8:54 am

  27. Jimmy Buffett and Kermit singing “Caribbean Amphibian”. It was the beginning of my parrothead future.

    And I actually loved “U really got a hold of me”. I thought the stalker U was hilarious

    posted by Tini on 7-30-2009 at 9:23 am

  28. I remember Smokey Robinson did “U Really Got A Hold On Me” and the letter “U” kept attacking him and wouldn’t let him go even though he kept trying to get away. It freaked me out slightly as a kid. :) Link in my name.

    posted by stacy on 7-30-2009 at 9:53 am

  29. Huey Lewis and the News’ “Hip to be a Square”! I love Sesame Street.

    posted by Reese on 7-30-2009 at 10:04 am

  30. Diana Krall with Elmo singing “Everybody’s Song”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jWyuCQflG0

    posted by Heidi on 7-30-2009 at 10:51 am

  31. I remember coming across that Spin Doctors clip a few years ago when I was channel surfing. I understand that many of the celebrity cameos are designed to appeal to the adults who are watching, since the kids won’t necessarily know who they are. But the Two Princes skit was about 10 years after the Spin Doctors had last had a hit, so I don’t think many of the adults were interested either!

    posted by Jaclyn McKewan on 7-30-2009 at 10:54 am

  32. Andrea Bocelli with Elmo is one of my favorites!

    posted by Alysha on 7-30-2009 at 10:59 am

  33. I enjoyed when Cab Calloway was on Sesame Street singing Hi Di Ho Man. I think he did another song also, but I can’t remeber what it was. While I am sitting here thingking I keep remembering people who guest stared on the Muppet Show. That was a great show!

    posted by haselwoman on 7-30-2009 at 11:11 am

  34. The jazz drummer vs. Animal. Not sure the name of the drummer, but Animal’s jaw was on the floor. Gene Krupa, maybe?

    posted by Molly on 7-30-2009 at 11:48 am

  35. Don’t forget Chris Brown and Elmo! That was one of the most hysterical performances ever. They perform “See The Signs” and Elmo really breaks it down.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORnh7DJT0Wo

    posted by Samantha on 7-30-2009 at 12:08 pm

  36. Elliott Smith

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxEJgawIync

    posted by Eric on 7-30-2009 at 12:32 pm

  37. Carol Channing singing to a snake. “Hello Ssssammy, well hello Ssssammy!”

    posted by the creature on 7-30-2009 at 12:51 pm

  38. Kim W – my youngest sister used to get freaked out by the U as well! Any time that segment came on she came running screaming out of the living room.

    Don’t forget Tricia Yearwood crooning to Herry, Grover and Baby Bear about her far away love who turns out to be one of those “yup, yup, yup….brrrrrrring!” aliens.

    If I was going to vote though, Feists 1-2-3-4 was the best!

    posted by Mike Wolf on 7-30-2009 at 1:14 pm

  39. I love Celia Cruz singing the song about the hummingbird http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjEE5Mf24vg

    posted by Jen on 7-30-2009 at 2:19 pm

  40. Bobby mcferrin!

    posted by Matt on 7-30-2009 at 10:04 pm

  41. i dont understand how you could forget weezer

    posted by benji on 7-31-2009 at 1:24 am

  42. Not a big fan of John Legend, but the blues song with Hoots the Owl was pretty good:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdni-YMw9ks

    posted by Rosey on 7-31-2009 at 9:19 am

  43. The Plain White T’s did a song called “I’m the Letter T” to the tune of Hey There Delilah that was great. My daughter loved it, and has actually started to listen to a bit more of the music on my iPod now because of it!

    posted by Barb on 7-31-2009 at 10:20 am

  44. Strangely, “Furry Happy Monsters” was my introduction to R.E.M. I’ve been a fan ever since.

    posted by Hannah on 8-6-2009 at 12:57 pm

  45. On the Muppet Show, Kermit sings Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jbya4kxC6E

    posted by Charlie on 8-7-2009 at 3:26 pm

  46. The Goo Goo Dolls were the best band on Sasame Street!

    posted by Sara on 8-13-2009 at 12:40 am

  47. Billy Joel singing to Oscar the Grouch.

    posted by Elizabeth on 8-13-2009 at 9:16 pm

  48. Those are great….I remember the REM deal on Sesame Street…Great Stuff!
    Glad I found your blog.

    posted by Dan on 8-25-2009 at 1:33 pm

  49. Paul McCartney – “Letter B”

    amazing.

    posted by Becky on 8-29-2009 at 5:47 pm

  50. i think this is my favorite post on this site. and that’s saying a lot (i spend hours on it, absorbing trivia, when it’s slow at work!) but you did forget my all-time fave sesame street performance: billy joel singing “just the way you are” to oscar the grouch, while marlee matlin signs the lyrics!
    “you’re so grouchy, very grouchy, i like you just the way you are…”

    posted by jessica on 9-21-2009 at 8:51 pm

  51. My favorite is the great jazz drummer Buddy Rich vs. Animal in a drum battle. unbelievable.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_BmeBfV-O4&p=DB9142E71FCC7095&playnext=1&index=32

    posted by Frank on 9-15-2010 at 6:44 pm

  52. Put Down The Duckie has a number of cameo appearances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiQsaEdJ1aI

    posted by Cyberjar88 on 8-12-2011 at 7:08 pm

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