Ever thought to yourself that you wish that Steve Coogan's classic character Alan Partridge would sing with Coldplay during their shows at Wembley? Well, you're in luck! Yes, that very specific and niche wish became a reality when Coogan took to the stage with the band and frontman Chris Martin took to the background to let Partridge shine as he performed a cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" as well as giving ABBA their time with "Knowing Me, Knowing You" on stage.
Coldplay posted the video to their Instagram account, writing "Thank you, Alan Partridge, for giving us a huge Wembley singalong #RunningUpThatHill #ColdplayWembley" and it features Coogan in character complaining about how the song's meaning and asking everyone to think about it with him. “Because it can’t just be about running?” he asked. The two went back and forth bantering for a bit before deciding to sing the chorus of "Running Up That Hill" and Coogan ended it by saying "If you're running uphill, make sure to wear the correct footwear!"
Alan Partridge was a fictional sportscaster made from the BBC 4 radio show called On the Hour who then went on to star in his own series of shows such as I'm Alan Partridge, This Time with Alan Partridge, Alan Partridge's Mid Morning Matters, and many others. The character was created by both Coogan and Armando Iannucci and has become synonymous with Coogan in a lot of ways.
One of the best parts of this surprise showing of the character is the "Knowing Me, Knowing You" cover that Martin and Coogan did. The song shares a title with Alan Partridge's fake talk show called Knowing Me, Knowing You With Alan Partridge which is perhaps the show that most recognize the character from. So having Coogan come out in character to sing it while also questioning the meaning of "Running Up That Hill"? It was just delightful!
To Martin's credit as well, he did let Coogan shine as Alan Partridge and even played along with Coogan was asking him on stage about the meaning of Bush's song — which has recently skyrocketed back into popularity once again thanks to Stranger Things 4 — and Martin replied that he thought the song might be about "overcoming problems," an explanation Partridge seems to appreciate.
Coldplay has brought out a number of fun guests throughout their shows and having Coogan out for this fun guest appearance at their penultimate show at the venue is nothing short of amazing. Check out clips of the two covers at the show down below.