Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
What do you give a woman who already has everything? And by everything, we mean multiple Grammy Awards, an Oscar, an Emmy, and countless chart-topping hits.
Well, you offer her an impromptu meeting with The Rock.
At the Grammys last weekend, superstar Adele was surprised by none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, proving that even the world’s biggest A-listers are still dazzled.
During his opening monologue, Grammys host Trevor Noah brought out Johnson, who stunned Adele and welcomed her with a giant hug at his table in the front row in the audience. “It’s one of the weirdest things I’ve found,” Noah said. “The person Adele always wanted to meet, but never wanted to meet, was Dwayne Johnson…I found out he’s a big fan of you too.” Later in the show, as fate would have it, Johnson was the presenter of the category Adele won and presented her award for Best Pop Solo Performance.
Adele has made no secret of her fascination with Johnson, revealing during a December 2021 appearance with YouTuber NikkieTutorials, “Someone I’ve never met who I think I would actually cry about is The Rock. .” The singer said she was “the biggest wrestling fan when I was younger” and shared that Johnson sent her flowers when he couldn’t do one of his shows. “I almost fell off my chair,” she exclaimed.
Now Johnson himself recounts Variety how he pulled off the surprise.
“We wanted to do something special for Adele,” Johnson said. Variety exclusively. “I know she’s a huge fan of mine and has said so publicly many times. But I have to tell you, I’m a huge fan of her too – her music, her journey, her openness and her candor. in the way she speaks. I’ve always admired that about her.
Johnson has been in production on his next film, “Red One,” and was hoping to finish in time to attend the Grammys, since he and his wife, singer-songwriter Lauren Hashian, wanted to attend the ceremony together. (The married couple share a love of music and recently collaborated on a song for a commercial for Johnson’s energy drink, Zoa, which aired during the Olympics.) Once Johnson confirmed his Grammys attendance, the broadcast’s executive producer, Ben Winston of Fulwell, 73, pitched her the idea of surprising Adele at the top of the show. Winston knew Adele was a huge fan of the wrestler-turned-movie-star and had previously invited Johnson to Adele’s special “One Night Only” concert at the Griffith Observatory, but he couldn’t (so, he send her flowers).
“We were trying to come up with something to do that was going to be fun and surprise her, and we had been tossing around ideas all week,” Johnson shares of her conversations with Winston and the production team. “The key to a surprise like this is to keep it surprising. The Grammys and I went to great lengths to make sure Adele was genuinely surprised in the moment, and she was.”
“It was just a big surprise and I got to chat a bit with her and her boyfriend, Rich Paul,” Johnson said. “And talking about the universe meeting our friendship halfway: I get up on stage and I open this Grammy envelope and it said ‘Adele.’ That’s why I got to say, ‘Get up here better friend, Adele!’ It was such a special night. And she is such an iconic, brilliant and inspiring artist who inspired a generation and will continue to inspire generations to come. I love this woman. We had a great time this I think the best part about it all is that she’s just cool – and I’ve never met her before.
