True to recent form, Rhett Miller cheesed it up in a blue blazer for his appearance on the season finale of 30 Rock on NBC.
The floppy-haired Old 97s frontman and established solo artist joined Elvis Costello, Clay Aiken, Norah Jones and a loopy Cyndi Lauper among other musicians in a "We Are the World"-style staged benefit song.
Standing more than a head taller than singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata and -- yep -- Moby, Miller snapped his fingers and competed for mic time with Jenna (Jane Krakowski) as a supergroup of stars celebrated "the gift of kidney," singing, "pass the cup, they stitch it up, you do some good." The benefit concert, deemed "Kidney Now," was meant to help Jack (Alec Baldwin) find a kidney donor for his freshly identified father Milton.
One cut to Jack during the song showed him misty-eyed, surely because of crooner Miller's boyish petition -- he's been known to jerk some tears -- and not because of the season's end ("It's only May," he quipped to Tina Fey's Liz Lemon when she noted the good year behind them.)
The Dallas Observer reported Miller was triple-booked last night, playing a show in Boston and offering satellite moral support for his fan page Hit By A Train as the site hosted an online sneak-peek listening party for his self-titled solo album, both at the same time the episode was to air.
The party was postponed for after fans recovered from the 30 Rock cameo, and you can see the comments listeners left as they heard the songs here. The record is scheduled to drop June 9th.
For those with confused DVRs, the video of the soon-to-be-legendary "Kidney Now" benefit song is posted below.
