In a collaboration that’s been nearly three decades in the making, hip-hop legends Cypress Hill and the world-renowned London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) are joining forces for a one-night-only musical event at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall on July 10.
The unexpected partnership was sparked by a throwaway gag from a 1996 episode of The Simpsons titled “Homerpalooza”.
For those who might not recall, the joke in question involved Cypress Hill accidentally booking the LSO at Hullabalooza music festival “possibly while high” – a scenario so absurd, it could only come from the fever dream that was The Simpsons writers’ room in its peak era.
But now, in 2024, after years of fan pressure and countless memes, the group have struck a deal for a one-night performance in London, where the LSO will perform its most famous songs, including “Insane in the Brain” and “I Wanna Get High.”
Considered pioneers of the West Coast hip-hop scene in the 1990s, Cypress Hill — consisting of members B-Real, Sen Dog and Eric Bobo — have sold more than 20 million albums worldwide. Their hit Black Sunday album sold over 3 million copies in the US and spent a year in the UK charts.
Now, they’re adding a prestigious orchestral twist to their legacy.
We mostly play classical… but we’ll give it a shot. @cypresshill https://t.co/2XT3Z5tVsJ
— London Symphony Orchestra (@londonsymphony) April 25, 2017
“It’s been something that we’ve talked about for many years since The Simpsons episode first aired,” Cypress Hill’s B-Real (real name Louis Mario Freese) told the BBC.
“So it’s very special for us. And it’s coming off the heels of our 30th anniversary for our Black Sunday album.”
Calling the opportunity to play on the famous stage one of their “checklist moments,” he added, “We’ve played a lot of historical venues throughout our career and stuff like that, but nothing as prestigious as this.”
“We salute The Simpsons because if they had not written that episode, we probably wouldn’t be doing this.”
In the famous Season 7 episode, Cypress Hill shared the screen with other iconic acts such as The Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, and Peter Frampton—the latter of whom has been invited by the hip-hop legends for this performance.
“We were blown away by it, so when it comes out finally, it’s like when your album comes out,” B-Real said.
“It was like, what’s it going to do? How are people going to react? We got a great reaction from it, and it was a hilarious episode. It just sort of lived on from there, throughout our career people have been like, ‘hey, did you really steal Peter Frampton’s symphony?'”
And for the record – the trio have reached out to Frampton with an invite to the show. They are still awaiting his reply.
“Yes, actually, we’ve been trying to invite him,” B-Real said. “We’ve never met him before, but we thought it would be a kick to invite the legendary Peter Frampton.”
The hip-hop outfit finally announced the news on Mar. 23 in a statement via Rolling Stone.
“We are thrilled to be performing with the London Symphony Orchestra in such a prestigious venue as the Royal Albert Hall,” the group commented “It’s a dream come true, a collaboration only The Simpsons could have predicted.”
Kathryn McDowell, Managing Director of the London Symphony Orchestra, added: “After years of social media teasing it, many fans may have started to believe it would only be a pipe dream – but the LSO is delighted to finally be joining Cypress Hill on stage and in person, and look forward to creating an unforgettable musical moment!”
One thing’s for sure – it’s bound to be a night of music unlike anything the Royal Albert Hall has ever seen.
