Watch Jim James and Janet Weiss Perform “Rainbow Connection” with Kermit the Frog at Newport Folk Festival

Music News The Muppets
Watch Jim James and Janet Weiss Perform “Rainbow Connection” with Kermit the Frog at Newport Folk Festival

Kermit the Frog played a surprise set at Newport Folk Festival on Sunday. The beloved little, green puppet sang “Rainbow Connection” from the 1979 film The Muppet Movie while playing the banjo.

Kermit was backed by a full band including Janet Weiss, the former drummer of Sleater-Kinney who recently announced her departure from the band.

Midway through the performance, Kermit said to the audience, “Please welcome my friend Jim James.” The crowd cheered as the My Morning Jacket frontman stepped onstage to sing the rest of “Rainbow Connection” as a duet with Kermit.

James and his band announced the limited release of a deluxe edition of their debut album The Tennessee Fire last month. James has been touring in support of that and his 2018 album Uniform Clarity all summer. Weiss, meanwhile, is gearing up for a fall tour with her band Quasi.

Watch the iconic Muppet perform with James and Weiss below, and check out a 2011 My Morning Jacket performance from the Paste archives further down.

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Share Tweet Submit Pin