Lady Gaga shows up in Friends: The Reunion to cover the Phoebe Buffay coffee house classic “Smelly Cat.”
Ben Winston, director of the reunion special, told Variety he and Friends star Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay, talked about which artist should sing it.
“We went through a few names, and we both agreed that Gaga, if we could get her, would be the ultimate one because she associates with and feels close to Phoebe in so many ways, as Gaga says on the show,” Winston said. “That was a really beautiful moment. And Lady Gaga jumped at the chance to do it.”
The song about a neglected cat was originally performed by Phoebe in “The One with the Baby on the Bus,” the sixth episode of the second season of Friends, which first aired on Nov. 2, 1995.
It was penned by Friends writers Adam Chase and Betsy Borns, but both Kudrow and Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde – who was a guest on an episode – are also credited.
Kudrow’s Phoebe occasionally performed “Smelly Cat” during the show's run, including an episode where she records a professional version only to find out another singer’s voice (E.G. Daily) was used in place of her own.
The song was also recorded by Kudrow and the Pretenders (as Phoebe Buffay and The Hairballs) for the 1999 compilation Friends Again.
In 2015, Kudrow performed “Smelly Cat” with Taylor Swift – a fan of felines – on a 1989 World Tour stop.
Friends: The Reunion is now streaming on Crave (part of Bell Media, parent company of this website).