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Hans Zimmer Surprises RAYE in Los Angeles, Calling Her “One of the Truly Great Original Artists”
Hans Zimmer surprised RAYE onstage in Los Angeles and praised her as one of the truly great original artists.
Hans Zimmer turned up unannounced at RAYE’s Los Angeles show this week, and the moment clearly caught her flat-footed. After the composer joined her onstage at the Greek Theatre on Wednesday night, May 13, he later summed up the surprise in a post that was as gushy as it was specific: “To say I adore her is a complete understatement.”
The appearance came during the second of RAYE’s two LA dates, right as she was introducing “Click Clack Symphony,” a song from her latest record, This Music May Contain Hope, which Zimmer composed. Before she could finish the setup, she noticed him at the side of the stage and reacted in disbelief, blurting, “You’re flipping joking.” RAYE then went over to hug him, joked to the crowd, “I just nearly broke his back… Ladies and gentlemen, please make some noise for Hans Zimmer,” and kept the energy rolling with another line addressed to the audience: “Flipping shut up. They surprised me! Do you realise what you’re witnessing here? Do you realise who is on stage? Ladies and gentlemen of LA, please give it up one more time for Hans Zimmer.”
The post-show Instagram recap filled in the detail that made the cameo land even harder. Zimmer wrote on RAYE’s post that she had been asking around to find out whether he would attend, and that even her father had been drafted into the deception. “We did it! We completely surprised RAYE,” he said. “She asked everybody if I was going to come see the show. (Even her dad was in on it and told her I wasn’t around.) It was a major surprise!”
He also used the moment to underline just how highly he rates her, praising RAYE as “one of the truly great original artists, a brilliant writer, an astonishing singer” who can deal with “quite serious subjects with a London Wit.” Zimmer added, “We have been friends for a looong time… to say I adore her is a complete understatement!”
— RAYE Updates (@RayeUpdate) May 15, 2026
RAYE’s US run now gives way to a return to London for two shows at the O2 on May 19 and 20, before she heads back to North America later in the year as support on Bruno Mars’ Romantic Tour. Her latest album, the follow-up to 2023’s My 21st Century Blues, arrived on March 27.
In NME’s five-star review, This Music May Contain Hope was described as RAYE “firing on all cylinders,” a record of “showstopping musical maximalism” that still stays rooted in “relatable experiences and unbridled emotions.” The review added that the album’s scale can be a lot to take in, but that its ambition is exactly what makes it “so glorious,” with each detour reading as a statement that she is now making music on her own terms.
There is more on her schedule beyond the tour circuit. RAYE is also booked for festival appearances this year, including a headline slot at the 60th anniversary edition of Montreux Jazz Festival alongside Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, PinkPantheress and Lewis Capaldi, plus another headline slot at Reading & Leeds. She is also due to make her acting debut in Lineage, the new film from Top Boy director Yann Demange.
Zimmer, meanwhile, remains busy on a very different front. He and his company Bleeding Fingers Music have been confirmed as composing the score for the new Harry Potter series, and he has also criticised the Golden Globes for not airing the Original Score category at the 2026 ceremony, arguing that films would not be the same without composers.
