Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox take on Blink-182 in latest ‘Sunday Lunch’
King Crimson alum Robert Fripp and his partner Toyah Willcox have taken on a cover of Blink-182’s ‘Dammit’ in the latest episode of their eternally popular Sunday Lunch series.
The couple performed the cover on April 28th, in the latest of their ongoing Sunday Lunch series on YouTube. The series began in 2020 as a distraction from the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. What started out as Willcox’s cunning plan to keep her husband entertained has since become a worldwide phenomenon, drawing in viewers by the millions, a tour and numerous festival appearances.
The affably unrefined covers are invariably coupled with some loud outfit choices, false starts form Fripp and some erratic dancing from Willcox. This latest edition doesn’t disappoint, with laughs aplenty as Wilcox deems it an “elderly edition of Sunday Lunch“, following a false start from Fripp.
Fripp and Willcox have resumed their series with gusto this year, bringing their colourful charm to the Beastie Boys’s ‘Fight For Your Right’, Michael Jackson’s ‘Give In To Me’, Bon Jovi’s ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’, The Black Keys’s ‘Lonely Boy’, and Richard Berry’s ‘Have Love, Will Travel’ of late.
Last year, Fripp and Willcox took Sunday Lunch on tour across the UK, including a momentous stop at Glastonbury Festival. With such success in just a couple of years, Willcox barely had the chance to reflect on the experience.
Speaking to eonmusic last year, Willcox remembered the immediate popularity of their series. “Sunday Lunch came about because we posted one clip, 28 seconds, something like April 19th 2020, and we had 100,000 replies within five minutes from people who were just desperate, absolutely desperate,” she recalled.
She attributes much of the initial popularity to the boredom imposed by the lockdown restrictions. “They were on their own. They were in lockdown,” she added. They didn’t know when they’d be able to leave their apartments, and we, Robert and I, realised that this was, at that particular time, a very lonely and frightened world.
Over time, the popularity showed no signs of waning with the easing of restrictions. “So we decided to keep posting, and it grew from there,” Willcox continued. “What we didn’t expect is it went from about 100,000 to 10 million, and then last week it was 120 million. So it’s getting bigger and bigger. It’s actually become like a brand.”
Willcox also revealed that the couple were in talks for a movie covering their story. “Obviously, we won’t be in it,” she noted, sharing the plan last September. “It’s for actors to play, but that’s all in the back kind of pool of what do you call pre-production. All of that’s going on.”
Watch Fripp and Willcox cover Blink-182’s ‘Dammit’ below.