TikTok guitarist Evan Marselli laid down a challenge to Rivers Cuomo in 2020. The Weezer fan pledged to play the iconic Buddy Holly lick every day until the Cuomo agreed to duet with him. On February 28, 2023, his wish was granted.
Marselli had performed and posted the lick from Weezer’s breakthrough Blue Album 990 days in a row and acquired a following of 15,000 on TikTok in the process.
The Tiktoker’s perseverance appears to have paid off, as Cuomo recently shared his own ‘duet’ performance of the seconds-long lick, reposting Marselli’s clip and playing alongside him.
@rivers_cuomo (opens in new tab) ♬ original sound - Evan (opens in new tab)
In addition, the frontman invited the fan to appear on Weezer’s forthcoming tour, writing, “Challenge you to come play this live on Weezer’s Indie Rock Roadtrip Tour this summer.”
Underneath he wrote: “#Duet with @Dietlite_Evan. My people will reach out to your people.”
In doing so, Cuomo appears to have fulfilled not just Marselli’s wish but also offered a sense of wider relief to a fanbase that had been keeping tabs on Marselli’s considerable “commitment to the bit”.
“The modern day sisyphus is finally free,” runs the top comment on Cuomo’s post (opens in new tab). Though we also enjoyed: “like when Tom Cruise and Miles Teller fly together in Top Gun, 11/10.”
@dietlite_evan (opens in new tab) ♬ original sound - Jazzy Fizzle (opens in new tab)
Marselli has since responded to Cuomo’s duet post depicting him powering down his amp, placing his Telecaster back on the guitar stand and deleting a daily reminder to “Make the Buddy Holly TikTok video”.
Let us all take this opportunity to thank Marselli and Cuomo for bringing the public this much-needed closure.
We'll have to wait to see if he manages a live appearance but in the meantime, you can follow Marselli on TikTok (opens in new tab).
