The Simpsons broke the mould once again this weekend by airing its first-ever hip-hop episode. Inspired by Empire and The Great Gatsby, ‘The Great Phatsby’ – the show’s first ever hour-long episode, brought in a raft of hip-hop powerhouses including Snoop Dogg and RZA.
Of course, this is by no means the first time The Simpsons has called upon the patronage of musical heroes to appear in the show. Here, Music Crowns runs through some of the best:
Michael Jackson
The episode Stark Raving Dad was written after Jackson called up the show’s producers and offered to do a guest spot. In the episode, Homer is sent to a mental institution after being too lazy to fill in a psychiatric questionnaire and meets a large white man who seems to think he’s Michael Jackson. Homer believes him and befriends him, and takes him home. After Bart lets the cat out of the bag, the whole of Springfield turns up at the Simpson family home to catch a glimpse of Jacko.
Due to legal constraints, Jackson was not officially credited for his performance on the show – and neither for Do The Bartman, which he wrote after appearing on the show.
Paul and Linda McCartney
Lisa The Vegetarian sees Lisa give up meat under the guidance of the McCartney’s, after becoming enraptured by a lamb while visiting a petting zoo. When Marge serves lamb chops for dinner that night, Lisa becomes troubled by the connection and announces she is giving up meat. Fleeing the family house after an argument with Homer, she ends up meeting Paul and Linda in the Kwik-E-Mart, where they explain they’re old friends with store owner and committed vegan App from Paul’s days in India.Upon recording the show, Paul requested that Lisa remain a vegetarian permanently – which the producers duly honoured.
Johnny Cash
Cash guested on what is arguably one of the greatest Simpsons episodes of all time, El Via Misterioso de Nuestro Homer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer), playing Homer’s spirit guide in the form of a “Space Coyote”.After coating his mouth with wax in order to be able to eat Chief Wiggum’s super-hot chili peppers, Homer drifts into a hallucination where he meets his spirit guide, voiced by Cash, at a Mayan temple.The show was originally pitched for the Simpsons’ third season, however was deemed too strange at that stage in the show’s development. It was finally resurrected during season eight.
The Who
A Tale Of Two Springfields sees Springfield divided into two separate towns after the introduction of a new area code. Declared mayor of New Springfield, Homer leads the charge in building a wall between the two towns before attempting to sabotage a concert in Old Springfield by The Who. The band take to the stage, and Pete Townshend’s opening riff to Won’t Get Fooled Again crumbles the wall.
While Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle appeared as themselves in the episode, Townshend was played by his brother Paul. The show’s animators featured Keith Moon, who died in 1978, in tribute to the late drummer.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Lenny Kravitz, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello
The show hit a doozy with 2002’s How I Spent My Summer Vacation, which featured a ‘Rock’n’Roll Fantasy Camp’ of Jagger, Richards, Kravitz, Petty and Costello. In the episode, Mick and friends teach Homer how to be a rock star “without the lawsuits and STDs”.
