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Robert Fripp was “fucking furious” about first viral video with wife Toyah

The usually stern guitarist was dressed in a tutu and danced to Swan Lake

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King Crimson mastermind Robert Fripp was “fucking furious” when his first viral video went online, his wife Toyah Willcox has revealed.

While in lockdown, the couple have been sharing humorous videos on the regular – surprising fans who are mostly used to seeing the serious side of the guitarist who famously only sits onstage. The particular video which initially infuriated Fripp featured him in tights and a tutu, dancing to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake – see it above.

Willcox – a successful actress, musician and TV presenter – recently spoke to The Guardian, where she explained the inspiration behind the videos. She said she decided to teach her 74-year-old husband how to dance in an attempt to dispel his lockdown blues.

“He was withdrawing,” she said. “So I thought: ‘I’m going to teach him to dance.’ And it became a challenge.”

When the video went online, Willcox admitted Fripp was “fucking furious” and felt “he was being mocked”. It took some convincing, but Fripp eventually changed his tune when he learned it was a way to stay connected with his fans.

“The response was so overwhelmingly positive,” she recalled. “And now, six months down the line, he can see that it was quite an important thing to do, in that it became a shared experience with an audience that needed to be reminded of the beauty of human laughter.”

She added: “I’ve not put him in such desperate situations.”

Fripp and Willcox’s video series is still going strong, with two videos uploaded over the past week. On Monday (8 February) they shared a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze and on Sunday (7 February), they answered fan questions on camera.

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