From Jordan to J. Lo: 30 times celebrities made iconic cameos in a music video

At the beginning of Weezer’s “Beverly Hills” video, Hugh Hefner is seen calling Weezer’s band member River Cuomo and telling him that the band should come by his Playboy mansion to play their new song. The band brought a whole entourage and fans as they performed in front of Hefner and his guests.

Michael Jackson was no stranger to recruiting a few of his celebrity friends to join him in music videos. It was no different in 1992 when he released his video for “Remember the Time.” With a theme set in ancient Egypt, Eddie Murphy played the role of a pharaoh who hired Jackson to try to entertain his queen. Other cameos were made by Magic Johnson, Iman, and Tom “Tiny” Lister Jr. 

Eminem’s music videos typically have comedic scenes in them, but he decided to show more of his serious side with the visual for his 2010 single “Love the Way You Lie.” Megan Fox plays the main character in the video, she’s seen having a domestic dispute with her partner after she finds out about his infidelity. The video earned several MTV Video Music Award nominations including Best Cinematography and Best Video with a Message. 

Will Smith is all about showing the exciting side of South Beach in his video for “Miami.” Actress Eva Mendes makes a brief appearance driving a convertible alongside Smith and his crew. This was just seven years before Smith and Mendes starred together in the comedy film Hitch. 

Beyoncé has always been the type of artist who advocates for women, and showcases their strength and liberation. In her video for “All Night,” she gives a narration of lessons from her grandmother, before going into showing family home footage. Zendaya makes an appearance in the video, alongside Amandla Stenberg, Chloe x Halle, and Quvenzhane Wallis. 

Jamie Foxx has quite the star-studded video for his 2009 single “Blame It.” Viewers first see Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, and Ron Howard in the car alongside Foxx, and then viewers see Samuel L. Jackson in the next club scene. All of them end up partying at the club together, even the legendary Quincy Jones is there! 

Ne-Yo loves a woman who is confident, attractive, and the ultimate boss—his interest is shown on full display in the video for “Miss Independent.” In the scenes, Ne-Yo is a businessman who works in a corporate office that has a majority of women employees. Actress Gabrielle Union plays one of the executives in the office who doesn’t pay Ne-Yo any mind (until the end of the video). 

In 1999, Melissa John Hart starred alongside Adrian Grenier in the teen film Drive Me Crazy. Britney Spears created the film’s theme track “(You Drive Me) Crazy, " featuring cameos from both Hart and Grenier. The video takes place inside a club, in which Hart plays a waitress and Grenier plays a bartender, while Spears and her crew use the club to show off their dance routine. 

In 1999, Mariah Carey released her seventh album Rainbow, which featured the hit single “Heartbreaker.” At the beginning of the video, Carey is being dragged by her friends to the movie theater, because they want her to confront her cheating boyfriend, who is played by Jerry O’Connell. Carey and her crew end up sitting a few rows behind the boyfriend and start throwing popcorn at him whenever he tries to kiss his mistress. Carey ends up breaking up with O'Connell at the end of the video. 

In 2006, Justin Timberlake released his second album FutureSex/LoveSounds which featured the hit song “What Goes Around… Comes Around.” Scarlett Johansson stars in the video as Timberlake’s love interest. In one scene, Timberlake finds Johansson making out with one of his friends. Johansson then flees the scene in a car, Timberlake follows after her, but she ends up getting into a car accident. 

Similar to Macaulay Culkin’s roles in the Home Alone movie franchise, he takes on a rebellious spirit at the beginning of Michael Jackson’s “Black or White.” He’s in his room playing music loudly, and his father (played by George Wendt), tells him to turn the music off and go to bed. As his father slams his door, he shatters Culkin’s poster of Jackson. Culkin then comes downstairs with a larger-than-life speaker to play the music even louder.

Alicia Silverstone seemed to be a fan favorite appearing in Aerosmith’s videos. When the band released their video for “Crazy,” it was the third video that featured Silverstone. In the video, Silverstone plays a high school teenager who’s cutting school with a friend. Once they ditch school, they’re seen shopping and attending a nightclub. 

In the music video for Kanye West’s “Touch the Sky,” the rapper uses the theme of playing Evel Kanyevel (which was inspired by Evel Knievel) as he attempts to fly a rocket. As Kanyevel is being interviewed by the press, he gets interrupted by Nia Long and Tracee Ellis Ross and the news program switches to a commercial break. 

At the beginning of the video for Janet Jackson’s “That’s the Way Love Goes,” the singer is seen hanging out with friends who are trying to convince her to play her new single. Jennifer Lopez is among the group of friends who want to hear the new music. Once another friend steals the cassette tape out of Jackson’s hands, she places it in the stereo for everyone to hear. 

Beyoncé is a club performer in her video for "Naughty Girl," when she’s done with her first performance, she enters the club like a patron and that’s when she notices Usher. They end up meeting on the dance floor to perform the routine, and it’s the type of cameo that is perfect since both artists are well known for their showmanship. “Naughty Girl” went on to win the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video. 

In 2000, Eminem released his third studio album The Marshall Mathers LP, which was led by the hit single “The Real Slim Shady.” Dr. Dre and Philip G. Atwell directed the music video and centered the first scene around Eminem playing a patient at a psychiatric ward. Kathy Griffin appears in the beginning as a nurse in the ward. “The Real Slim Shady” won the MTV Video Music Award for the prestigious Video of the Year. 

In 2007, rock band Fall Out Boy released their third album Infinity on High, which featured the hit single “Thnks fr the Mmrs.” The video is a random concept that shows the band shooting a music video, but the entire crew behind the scenes is a group of chimpanzees. Kim Kardashian plays Pete Wentz’s love interest as they attempt to film a kissing scene. 

Michael Jackson’s video for “Jam” has one of the most iconic cameo appearances by Michael Jordan. At the time, both Jackson and Jordan were two of the biggest celebrities in the world, and it was pretty cool that both MJs got to collaborate. In the video. Jackson is trying to teach Jordan how to moonwalk, while Jordan is trying to teach Jackson some of his basketball moves. 

In 2017, SZA released her debut studio album Ctrl to rave reviews, it featured the hit single “Drew Barrymore.” The music video was directed by Dave Meyers and features SZA having a fun-filled day with friends in New York, such as going to a pizza parlor, sledding in the snow, and attending a house party. In one scene, SZA is sitting on a stairwell outside, and the actress Drew Barrymore passes by her with a smile. 

In 2001, Enrique Iglesias released his hit song “Hero.” Jennifer Love Hewitt played Iglesias’ love interest in the video. Throughout the scenes, Love Hewitt and Iglesias are on the run from a crew of bad guys, however, the guys end up capturing them. The bad guys confront Iglesias before they beat him with a baton. Towards the end of the video, Iglesias dies in Love Hewitt’s arms. 

For fans who watched HBO’s Insecure, they were very familiar with Issa Rae’s fandom for Drake, she would reference him in several episodes. It was only right that the rapper included Rae in his video for “Nice for What.” The video is filled with several other celebrities including Tracee Ellis Ross, Yara Shahidi, Misty Copeland, Emma Roberts, and more. 

In 1988, Bobby McFerrin released his hit single “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” The video features cameos from Robin Williams and Bill Irwin as they join McFerrin in different comedic skits. 

Ariana Grande has a love for 2000s teen films in her video for “Thank U, Next.” She references different films such as Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, Bring It On, and 13 Going on 30. In the video, Kris Jenner plays the role of Regina George’s mom, which is in reference to Mean Girls. One of the cool things about Jenner’s cameo is how much it seems full circle to her viral “You’re doing amazing sweetie” moment.  

The music video for “The Boy is Mine” is all about the drama that can ensue when a cheating partner gets caught. Brandy and Monica find out that they’ve been dating the same guy, who is portrayed by Mekhi Phifer. The thing that makes the infidelity even messier is that Brandy and Monica live in the same apartment building, and things don’t end well for Phifer when comes to Brandy’s unit and Monica is also at her door. 

Tom Hanks is the star of Carly Rae Jepsen’s video “I Really Like You.” The video starts with Hanks waking up to get ready for the day. As he walks through his city, he gets stopped by fans for autographs and selfies. Jepson doesn’t show up until the song’s bridge, in which she meets up with Hanks and they perform a dance routine. Even Justin Bieber makes an appearance to join them in the dance performance. 

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion had the world talking when they released “WAP.” The video takes place inside a mansion in which Cardi and Megan are seen wearing bold colors as they are joined by tigers and snakes in different rooms. The music takes a brief break as Kylie Jenner is seen walking down a hallway in the mansion. 

Bruce Springsteen takes the stage in his video for “Dancing in the Dark.” As Springsteen is performing at a concert, he then sees Courteney Cox as a fan in front and invites her on stage to dance alongside him. “Dancing in the Dark” won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Stage Performance. 

Keke Palmer caused quite the social media stir when she attended Usher’s Las Vegas residency in July 2023. Since Usher would go out into the audience to serenade a few lucky attendees, Palmer was chosen for that moment. While it might have caused a rift in her own relationship with her then boyfriend, Usher knew it would be a perfect time to cast Palmer as the lead in his video for “Boyfriend.” In the video, Palmer not only pays homage to Usher, but she eventually joins him for a dance routine. 

In 2014, boy band One Direction released their fourth studio album Four, led by the single “Steal My Girl.” In the music video, One Direction is seen coming out of their trailer in the middle of the desert for a video shoot. They notice that the director is late to the set, a few moments later, Danny DeVito (who plays the director), shows up and gives them his vision for the video.

In 1993, Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in the film Last Action Hero. It was only right that rock band AC/DC recruited the actor to be in their video for “Big Gun,” a song that was featured on the film’s soundtrack. In the video, Schwarzenegger breaks into the concert that AC/DC is playing at and is in the audience with fellow fans. He then somehow ends up on stage with the band and morphs into a rock star himself.