Celebrities, celebrities everywhere!
Last month, Taylor Swift showed off her squad by assembling a team of superheroes for her “Bad Blood” music video. Last week, Madonna dropped her “B*tch I’m Madonna” video which featured cameos by Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Diplo, Kanye West and more, proving that people love music videos that are filled with their favourite A-listers.
However, this star-studded video treatment is nothing new. Michael Jackson did it a quarter-century ago and artistes including Katy Perry, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and Jay Z have all produced some of the most amazing visuals featuring some of the most famous people.
That being said, here’s a list of our favourite celebrities-filled music videos:
1. Michael Jackson – “Liberian Girl”
Taken from the late King Of Pop’s seventh studio album Bad, “Liberian Girl” was the ninth single to be released by Michael Jackson. The video accompanying the track featured a number of his celebrity friends amongst whom were Beverly Johnson, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Sherman Hemsley, Brigitte Nielsen, Paula Abdul, Carl Weathers, Whoopi Goldberg, Quincy Jones, Jackie Collins, Amy Irving, Jasmine Guy, Rosanna Arquette, Billy Dee Williams and Lou Diamond Phillips.
“Liberian Girl” was not the only music video featuring his famous friends. A couple of years later, he had Iman, Eddie Murphy and Magic Johnson in his music video for “Remember The Time“.
2. Paul McCartney – “Queenie Eye”
Two years back, the Beatles’ Sir James Paul McCartney, better known as Paul McCartney, released the music video for his single “Queenie Eye”. The video directed by Simon Aboud was filmed at the Abbey Road Studios. It featured cameos by Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, Gary Barlow, Lily Cole, James Corden, Alice Eve, Jeremy Irons, Jude Law, Kate Moss, Sean Penn, Chris Pine and Tracey Ullman.
3. Johnny Cash – “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”
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Three years after Johnny Cash passed away, his cover of “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” was given a loving visual tribute. Directed by Tony Kaye, the 2006 video featured a string of celebrities dressed in black, looking somber. The celebrities who made an appearance in the video were Iggy Pop, Kanye West, Chris Martin, Kris Kristofferson, Patti Smith, Terrence Howard, Flea, Q-Tip, Adam Levine, Chris Rock, Justin Timberlake, Kate Moss, Sir Peter Blake, Sheryl Crow, Dennis Hopper, Woody Harrelson, Amy Lee, Tommy Lee, the Dixie Chicks, Mick Jones, Sharon Stone, Bono, Shelby Lynne, Anthony Kiedis, Travis Barker, Lisa Marie Presley, Kid Rock, Jay-Z, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons, Corinne Bailey Rae, Johnny Depp, Graham Nash and Brian Wilson.
4. Jay Z – “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is…)”
Taken from Jay Z’s 2007 album American Gangster, the video for “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is…) was directed by Chris Robinson and featured Jay partying and living it up with some of his closes confidantes. Shot in New York City, the video featured cameos by Nas, Rick Ross, Memphis Bleek, P Diddy, Freeway, Terrence J, Tru Life, Young Gunz, Jadakiss, Yaya DaCosta, Swizz Beatz, Drew Sidora, Kristia Krueger, Chain 4, Chantel, Beanie Sigel, Cassie, DJ Clue, Larry Johnson, Tristan Wilds, Just Blaze, Zab Judah, The-Dream, Irv Gotti and Mariah Carey.
4. Duck Sauce – “Barbra Streisand”
https://youtu.be/uu_zwdmz0hE
American-Canadian DJ duo Armand Van Helden and A-Trak better known together as Duck Sauce got a slew of celebrities to say the words Barbra Streisand on camera in 2010 with the release of the track “Barbra Streisand”. Though no official list has been released, the catchy and addictive Grammy nominated track featured cameos by Diplo, Questlove, Santogold, Smif N Wessun, Just Blaze, Chromeo, Yelawolf, Buckshot, DJ Premier, Ezra Koenig, Kanye, Ryan Leslie, Pharell, Yelawolf, Santogold, Pharrell, Kanye, Premier, Questlove, Armand, P-Thug, Dave One and Medhi.
5. Pharrell Williams – “Happy”
Last year, Pharrell broke the internet with the release of his “Despicable Me 2” soundtrack single “Happy“. Not only did he get people from around the world recording their own parody videos, he also launched a “24-hour music video” that included a bunch of celebrities making appearances throughout the day to sing along to the looped tack.
Those celebrities were Jamie Foxx, Steve Carell, Magic Johnson, Jimmy Kimmel, Miranda Cosgrove, Buddy, Tyler the Creator, Cyrcle, Gavin DeGraw, Urijah Faber, Michaella Tastad, Luisa Fernanda Espinosa, Francesco, Ryan Heffington, Whit Hertford, Sarunas J. Jackson, Jojo, Leah Labelle, Alonson Mateo, Sean McBride, Sergio Mendes, Ana Ortiz, Kelly Osbourne, Isa Rae, Fatima Robinson, Golden Sisters, Bevy Smith, Thebe Kgositsile, Rob Zabrecky and more.
Of course, Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” and Madonna’s “B*tch I’m Madonna” are our favourites too, but you already knew that didn’t you? ;)
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