Benedict Cumberbatch makes a shock performance with Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour

Ben Arnold


Are there no end to the talents of Benedict Cumberbatch?

The ‘Doctor Strange’ star made a rather unexpected appearance on stage at the Royal Albert Hall last night, as one does, performing alongside Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour.

Cumbo pitched up onto the stage and sang the Floyd classic ‘Comfortably Numb’, during the third night of Gilmour’s five-night run in London.

“Who knew he could sing?” Gilmour asked the audience.

Well, that second verse high note was a bit on the nose, but other than that it was as good as could be expected.

But he had substantial boots to fill – last time Gilmour invited someone on stage to sing the famous anthem with him, it was David Bowie back in 2006, also at the Albert Hall.

It wasn’t only Cumberbatch knocking about from the acting world.

Richard E. Grant was also tweeting from backstage at the gig, snapping himself and Cumberbatch in a saucy pose with Sophie Robinson, wife of ‘Withnail and I’ screenwriter and director Bruce Robinson.

Mugging for the camera, he added:

Cumberbatch isn’t generally, ahem, vocal about his singing talent, though he did record a track ‘Can’t Keep It Inside’ for the movie ‘August: Osage County’ in 2013.

Oddly, he recently said that being part of the Marvel crew made him feel like a rock star, actually name-checking The Floyd.

“I’ve been to Comic-Con, and it’s a very nice way to give back to the fans that drive these things. It was quite scary. I felt like Pink Floyd,” he told Interview magazine.

“It’s just like, ‘Hello, hi,’ after the fans are all screaming. That side of it is just phenomenal, and it makes me giggle, and I don’t know whether I’ll get used to that. I can’t wait to see how it expands the universe. I’m also part of your crew!

“It’s an amazing cast of actors. And it’s the most fun hard work you’ll ever do, I think, as an actor. They really know how to treat you right. And the material is challenging, witty, and a lot of fun to do. ‘Doctor Strange’ is a complex, funny, but exciting character.”

Image credits: Instagram/Polly Samson/Twitter/Richard E. Grant

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