Game of Thrones has a history of cameos from some rather illustrious musical guests. While showrunners tend not to make a big thing out of the artists appearing on the series (at least most of the time), they’re a much-loved quirk of the HBO drama and fans take great pleasure in trying to spot them.
The first music guest on Game of Thrones was Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, who appeared as a Bolton soldier in season 1 singing a track written by The Hold Steady especially for the show. Following in the growing tradition were musicians including Coldplay‘s Will Champion, Sigur Ros, Bastille, Mastodon and an ill-conceived spot for Ed Sheeran.
Some cameos involved the artists using their musical skills and performing live on set – others got to appear as wildlings, soldiers or White Walkers.
Here are the best Game of Thrones music cameos, ranked worst to best:
1/8 8. Ed Sheeran (season 7)
One of the worst celebrity cameos to happen on TV, ever. Ed Sheeran announced he had a cameo in season seven a long while before the episode actually aired and actually revealed the line of dialogue he had – terrible etiquette when it comes to a show whose fans detest spoilers. To be fair, it wasn’t really Ed’s fault. Maybe showrunners were giddy at having such a major star on set, but they did little or nothing to disguise the fact that, yes, that’s Ed Sheeran sitting at a campfire with some Lannister soldiers. Ed was also unable to disguise his glee at being on the show, so for the whole appearance he had a weird smile on his face, which looked weird, considering the entire world was at war – and until then Lannister soldiers weren’t particularly known for their sense of humour. It was so bad that Kristian Nairn – who plays Hodor – even called the cameo “stupid” and criticised the showrunners for the “snap to reality” it caused for the audience.
HBO
2/8 7. Coldplay’s Will Champion (season 3)
Coldplay’s Will Champion was spotted in one of the most shocking scenes in Game of Thrones: the Red Wedding. Champion played a drummer at Edmure Tully’s ill-fated gathering in “The Rains of Castamere”. Arguably Champion was a little too enthusiastic in a scene that was already full of foreboding, given the tense relationship between the Tullys and the Starks. His beard was also perhaps a little too modern compared to the grizzly facial hair sported by most Game of Thrones extras.
HBO
3/8 6. Bastille (season 7)
Bastille filmed a cameo scene for season seven of Game of Thrones in Belfast, where they got to have a tour of the set, and ended up as wights. You can spot a very brief glimpse of guitarist Kyle Simmons and their tour manager Dick Meredith during the sinister march towards the Wall in the final episode of the season – unfortunately the others got cut from the final edit.
@bastilledan / Twitter
4/8 5. Of Monsters and Men (season six)
Of Monsters and Men managed to avoid any bloodshed and made a perfectly lovely appearance as the band accompanying a theatre troupe in season six. The band later revealed that they had been begging to be on the show for years, before finally scoring the gig.
HBO
5/8 4. Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody (season 1)
The best Game of Thrones music cameos tend to be the ones that are so subtle that you have to go back and watch them again to check it really happened. Such was the case for Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, who was the first musician to get a cameo and who was also the most easy to miss. He appeared as a Bolton soldier, who sings The Hold Steady song “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” (written specifically for the show), as the patrol make their way through the woods.
HBO
6/8 3. Sigur Ros (season 4)
The Icelandic band were lucky to escape with their lives after failing to impress King Joffrey during their performance for his wedding to Margaery Tyrell at King’s Landing. Fortunately Joffrey was a bit occupied with choking on his own vomit after having some very nasty poison slipped into his wine.
HBO
7/8 2. Dr Feelgood’s Wilko Johnson
Technically, this probably doesn’t qualify as a cameo given Wilko Johnson’s stint as the mute royal executioner Ser Ilyn Payne took place over several episiodes in seasons one and two. But he was so brilliant it’s impossible not to mention him – particularly for the scene where he stares blankly at a young Sansa Stark before being shooed away by The Hound.
HBO
8/8 1. Mastodon (seasons 5 and 7)
The American metal band did a great job as wildlings (it helped that they were already really hairy) in season five, for the episode “Hardhome”. After being brutally slaughtered during a terrifying attack on the wildlings by a horde of wights, Mastodon were brought back to life as White Walkers, which Brann Dailor described as “beyond amazing”. Their cameo went down so well with fans that they were invited back to play wights again in the season seven finale.
1/8 8. Ed Sheeran (season 7)
One of the worst celebrity cameos to happen on TV, ever. Ed Sheeran announced he had a cameo in season seven a long while before the episode actually aired and actually revealed the line of dialogue he had – terrible etiquette when it comes to a show whose fans detest spoilers. To be fair, it wasn’t really Ed’s fault. Maybe showrunners were giddy at having such a major star on set, but they did little or nothing to disguise the fact that, yes, that’s Ed Sheeran sitting at a campfire with some Lannister soldiers. Ed was also unable to disguise his glee at being on the show, so for the whole appearance he had a weird smile on his face, which looked weird, considering the entire world was at war – and until then Lannister soldiers weren’t particularly known for their sense of humour. It was so bad that Kristian Nairn – who plays Hodor – even called the cameo “stupid” and criticised the showrunners for the “snap to reality” it caused for the audience.
HBO
2/8 7. Coldplay’s Will Champion (season 3)
Coldplay’s Will Champion was spotted in one of the most shocking scenes in Game of Thrones: the Red Wedding. Champion played a drummer at Edmure Tully’s ill-fated gathering in “The Rains of Castamere”. Arguably Champion was a little too enthusiastic in a scene that was already full of foreboding, given the tense relationship between the Tullys and the Starks. His beard was also perhaps a little too modern compared to the grizzly facial hair sported by most Game of Thrones extras.
HBO
3/8 6. Bastille (season 7)
Bastille filmed a cameo scene for season seven of Game of Thrones in Belfast, where they got to have a tour of the set, and ended up as wights. You can spot a very brief glimpse of guitarist Kyle Simmons and their tour manager Dick Meredith during the sinister march towards the Wall in the final episode of the season – unfortunately the others got cut from the final edit.
@bastilledan / Twitter
4/8 5. Of Monsters and Men (season six)
Of Monsters and Men managed to avoid any bloodshed and made a perfectly lovely appearance as the band accompanying a theatre troupe in season six. The band later revealed that they had been begging to be on the show for years, before finally scoring the gig.
HBO
5/8 4. Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody (season 1)
The best Game of Thrones music cameos tend to be the ones that are so subtle that you have to go back and watch them again to check it really happened. Such was the case for Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, who was the first musician to get a cameo and who was also the most easy to miss. He appeared as a Bolton soldier, who sings The Hold Steady song “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” (written specifically for the show), as the patrol make their way through the woods.
HBO
6/8 3. Sigur Ros (season 4)
The Icelandic band were lucky to escape with their lives after failing to impress King Joffrey during their performance for his wedding to Margaery Tyrell at King’s Landing. Fortunately Joffrey was a bit occupied with choking on his own vomit after having some very nasty poison slipped into his wine.
HBO
7/8 2. Dr Feelgood’s Wilko Johnson
Technically, this probably doesn’t qualify as a cameo given Wilko Johnson’s stint as the mute royal executioner Ser Ilyn Payne took place over several episiodes in seasons one and two. But he was so brilliant it’s impossible not to mention him – particularly for the scene where he stares blankly at a young Sansa Stark before being shooed away by The Hound.
HBO
8/8 1. Mastodon (seasons 5 and 7)
The American metal band did a great job as wildlings (it helped that they were already really hairy) in season five, for the episode “Hardhome”. After being brutally slaughtered during a terrifying attack on the wildlings by a horde of wights, Mastodon were brought back to life as White Walkers, which Brann Dailor described as “beyond amazing”. Their cameo went down so well with fans that they were invited back to play wights again in the season seven finale.
Mastodon scored their cameo when frontman Brent Hinds went back to the band’s hotel during a tour and was approached by some fans, who turned out to be writer Dan Weiss and other members of the GoT crew.
“Brent freaked out because we’re all huge fans of the show,” drummer Brann Dailor tells The Independent.
The pair exchanged emails and kept in touch, until their next European tour coincided with a date in Belfast where GoT was being filmed. Mastodon flew in a few days early where they “checked out the sets and sat on the pointy chair” before dressing up as wildlings and shooting scenes from “Hardhome”.
“It was pretty incredible being on set. One of my favourite moments was sitting in a small tent with the three White Walkers in full makeup, and one of the guys was asking for a straw for his hot chocolate because he couldn’t drink it through the prosthetics in this really polite British accent. And they didn’t seem so scary after that. Also I was stabbed in the stomach and had my throat slit by a nice Hungarian boy, so that was fun.”
Dailor isn’t convinced that anyone will end up on the Iron Throne by the end of season 8: “I think it’s just gonna be tumbleweeds rolling around at the very end, and everything is completely destroyed by the White Walkers. Because they don’t give a s**t about being on the Iron Throne. I think they’re nihilists.”
Game of Thrones season 8 begins on 14 April on HBO. Seasons 1-7 are available to watch on NowTV.
