Ian McKellen delights fans with surprise appearance at Scissor Sisters gig

By Lynn Rusk, PA

Sir Ian McKellen delighted fans by making a surprise appearance at the Scissor Sisters reunion gig at London’s O2 on Friday evening.

The US pop group, who celebrated the 20-year anniversary of their debut album last year, have recently reformed and are playing a series of shows across the UK.

Fans at the O2 screamed and cheered as the 85-year-old actor took to the stage to recite spoken-word vocals for the band’s hit song Invisible Light.

During his brief appearance the Lord Of The Rings star read out the monologue he performed on the recorded version of the track which was first released in 2010.

Fans at the concert took to social media to share their delight at Sir Ian’s cameo.

One fan wrote on X: “Absolute mayhem as Sir Ian McKellen does a dramatic reading of his lines from Invisible Light, one of my favourite scissor sisters songs of all time.

“Cried a little, just so blessed to see this.”

Another wrote: “A concert cameo like no other.

“Sir Ian McKellen has blown The O2 roof off at The Scissor Sisters’ 21st anniversary tour.”

Another surprise appearance was from Rebecca Lucy Taylor, known better by her stage name Self Esteem, who joined the group for a rendition of Take Your Mama.

The group – including lead singer Jake Shears, multi-instrumentalist Babydaddy and guitarist Del Marquis – are performing their first live shows in 12 years.

Singer Ana Matronic decided not to join the tour as she has “other projects she is focusing on right now”, according to a statement from the group.

The group have upcoming gigs at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, the SSE Arena in Belfast and 3Arena in Dublin, as part of their UK and Ireland tour.

Scissor Sisters rose to prominence in the early 2000s with a colourful style blending multiple genres and pioneering LGBT+ representation in mainstream music.