Because this year can only get weirder, here’s a tattooed Robert Fripp playing Black Sabbath’s Paranoid in a prison cell

By Richard Bienstock
published

The King Crimson legend is joined by his wife for the bizarre cover

The year 2020 has been full of surprises, and it’s not done yet. 

With that in mind, may we present, free of context (because what context could there truly be?) King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp… sitting in a prison cell… wearing fake tattoos… and playing Black Sabbath’s Paranoid on a Fernandes Custom Gold electric guitar.

To adds to the bizarreness of the setup, Fripp’s wife of 34 years, musician and actress Toyah Wilcox, stands behind the cell door, dancing and playing the role of Ozzy Osbourne to Fripp’s Tony Iommi.

“Happy Sunday lunch from Toyah and Robert!” Fripp exclaims after the performance.

Happy, indeed.

For more Toyah and Robert madness, check out their covers of Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water (opens in new tab) and David Bowie’s Heroes (opens in new tab), a song Fripp knows a thing or two about.

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Richard Bienstock
Richard Bienstock

Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.