In just about the biggest thing to happen to Australia since it broke off from the supercontinent Gondwana, Kevin Parker of Tame Impala joined fellow Aussie icons The Wiggles on stage for a rendition of their unexpected joint hit, “Elephant.”
The lead single off 2012’s Lonerism, “Elephant” is the track that took Tame Impala from a regional rising star to a globetrotting festival headliner. The song gained a child-friendly second life last year, when The Wiggles covered it for Triple J’s Like a Version as part of the lead-up to ReWiggled. The new rendition, with its interpolation of The Wiggles’ “Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy!,” became an unexpected hit, even topping the 2021 poll of the Triple J Hottest 100.
Fans at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia might have expected to hear “Elephant” on Sunday, but they couldn’t have known that Kevin Parker himself would join in the fun. The Tame Impala mastermind rocked along on the guitar, dancing in place alongside an oversized dog and a giant elephant, leaving the lead vocals to The Wiggles. At the end, The Wiggles gifted him with an honorary Wiggles outfit and a colorful Wiggles guitar, and afterwards he stuck around to strum along to “Hot Potato.”
“When the opportunity presented itself to perform live with The Wiggles – how could I resist?” Parker said in a statement. “That was one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done!”
Blue Wiggle Anthony Field agreed: ‘We were so happy to have Kevin Parker on stage with us in a very special musical moment! We are so grateful to Tame Impala for the song ‘Elephant’ and then to have him perform ‘Hot Potato’ with us also – it was a real pinch-me moment!” Check out “Elephant” and “Hot Potato” below.
In February, Tame Impala released The Slow Rush B-Sides & Rarities. Next month, Parker and co. will return to the US to play Hangout Music Festival and kick off the second leg of their North American tour. Tickets are available here.