5 Musician Cameos on Game of Thrones That Were Better Than Ed Sheeran
People lost it when Ed Sheeran showed up in the Season 7 premiere of Game of Thrones. And now that moment will forever be immortalized thanks to the Internet.
The reactions to the crooners cameo have been mixed. Spoiler alert: The singer plays, well, a singing soldier (and we have the creativity of the showrunners to thank for that). Sheeran may not be everyone's favorite, but there are other famous musicians that made their way to the GoT set.
Here are some of the better ones. Warning: unapologetic spoilers ahead.
Of Monsters and Men
Cameo: Season 6, Episode 5 “The Door”
The “Little Talks” band from Iceland made their appearance on the HBO show as the background musicians for a stage play in Braavos. This is the same play that Arya was watching as they reenacted Ned Stark’s execution. Ragnar “Raggi” Thorhallsson shared that the band had spent years waiting to be extras on the show. To their luck, they ended up as more than just extras in a mob, but an actual band playing on-screen music.
Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody
Cameo: Season 3, Episode 3 “Walk of Punishment”
Riding with the Bolton army, Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody played the soldier leading Locke’s men in singing “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” as they ride through the woods with Jaime and Brienne as prisoners. A big fan of the show, Lightbody even shared a picture of himself on Twitter dressed in his Bolton soldier costume.
Sigur Ros
Cameo: Season 4, Episode 2 “The Lion and the Rose”
Another Icelandic band, the trio of Sigur Ros played the minstrels at the Purple Wedding of Joffrey and Margaery. They sang their own rendition of—you guessed it—“The Rains of Castamere.” Their gloomy cover proved to be a foreshadowing of what was to come, and GOT fans need no further explanation to get the hint. The band later released their cover on iTunes and YouTube for fans to enjoy.
Coldplay’s Will Champion
Cameo: Season 3, Episode 9 “The Rains of Castamere”
Another musician to play “The Rains of Castamere” on the show, Coldplay drummer Will Champion had the honor of being part of the Frey band to perform the accursed song. Only this time, they played it during the Red Wedding—the iconic sequence in the show that’s a contender for the most ruthless scene in HBO history (and that’s saying something).
Mastodon
Cameo: Season 5, Episode 8 “Hardhome”
By far the coolest cameo to ever happen on Game of Thrones, the American heavy metal band members of Mastodon had the fortune of playing the minions of evil—wights. Decked in their undead Wildling garb, the rockers described “the incredible experience” of watching each other get killed and stabbed. Unlike the other bands that had cameos, Mastodon didn’t perform or record a song for the show. Which is fine, since being an undead Wildling is pretty rad enough on its own.
