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After Coachella attendees had a lackluster response to Benson Boone’s surprise guest, Queen’s Brian May, during his April 11 performance at the festival, Boone had a little fun
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The “Beautiful Things” singer paraded around onstage with a life-sized cardboard cutout of May during his second Coachella performance on Friday, April 18
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Boone previously shared his frustrations with the Coachella audience after the first weekend with a cheeky April 13 TikTok
After Coachella-goers failed to treat his surprise guest, Queen’s Brian May, like the rock icon he is, Benson Boone did not hide his disappointment — and even brought him out again to troll the crowd. (Well, sort of.)
During his debut Coachella performance on Friday, April 11, Boone, 22, brought out the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer, 77, to play guitar as he channeled May’s late bandmate Freddie Mercury for a dramatic rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
And while the cover marked a career high for Boone — plus an impressive comeback for May, who had a “minor stroke” just seven months earlier — the “Beautiful Things” singer was let down by the festival crowd’s lackluster response to the rock icon’s presence.
Understandably, he expected a bit more enthusiasm — and didn’t shy away from his disappointment, trolling the audience for the lukewarm reception they gave May in a TikTok following the surprise team-up.
And for his second Coachella performance, Boone took the trolling to the next level, getting his fans excited about his surprise guest (“Just wait till you see who I bring up for Bohemian Rhapsody today,” he teased on TikTok) only for the guest to be May — in cardboard cutout form.
As Boone prepared to cover Queen’s 1975 classic for a second time on Friday, April 18 — for which he even rocked a Mercury-inspired cape in the late vocalist’s honor — fans eagerly awaited the special guest reveal.
After performing the first verse of the hit track — and, true to form, flipping off of a grand piano — the “Slow It Down” singer revealed the two-dimensional May. The life-sized, guitar-wielding cutout stood on a platform center stage, flanked by the choir Boone enlisted for the powerful rendition.
Later in the song, the singer joined the cutout, holding it up high and bringing it back down to the main stage before hilariously parading it around for the remainder of the cover. He even wrapped the cover by serenading the flat rocker.
And while Boone’s message hit home, so did the cardboard cutout, which fell several times, seemingly due to the infamous Indio, Calif., wind.
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Boone had previously shared his frustrations with the Coachella audience after the first weekend with a cheeky April 13 TikTok. In the clip, Boone lip-syncs “Bohemian Rhapsody” into a banana before getting frustrated with the invisible audience.
“Me trying to get the crowd at Coachella to understand what an absolute legend Brian May is,” he wrote over the clip, “and the cultural impact he has on music and THE WORLD.”
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The Grammy-nominated singer also posted more about May following his second performance (which the rocker missed to witness a NASA mission in Colorado, per his Instagram), including sharing a snap with the guitarist’s cutout on Instagram Stories.
“@brianmayforreal looking extra spicy today,” he joked over a mirror selfie with the cardboard rocker.
May also documented the duo’s Coachella team-up — the first one, not his cardboard cameo — with a sweet post on Instagram. Alongside a selfie with Boone, the musician wrote, “Do we look happy ? !!! Gonna treasure this moment on the plane with @bensonboone – a truly golden 22 year old prodigy. I’m proud and happy to say we are now officially pals 💥💥💥💥 Bri.”
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Later, the Queen rocker also praised Boone for his signature “aeronautics,” and even said he was “awestruck” by the rising star.
“I’m still reeling from last night at Coachella,” May wrote on Instagram. “Thanks to all of you folks who made it feel so special — you know who you are !!!! And this particular way of concluding Bohemian Rhapsody will be hard to beat in the years to come !!! Thanks. And for Benson and his entire team, I have no words. I’m awestruck.”
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