In October 2023, fans of Friends star Matthew Perry were heartbroken to learn he tragically died at the age of 54 from what was later found to be acute effects of ketamine in his body. As the world continues to mourn Matthew's death, the Emmy Awards found a way to pay him a special tribute during one of the most emotional moments of the night.
Grammy nominee Charlie Puth and music duo The War and Treaty were on hand to perform during the Emmys' annual "In Memoriam" segment. The three sang Charlie's hit "See You Again" as photos of notable faces in the TV industry (like Norman Lear and Leslie Jordan) appeared on-screen. But as the piece was about to close, the group surprised everyone by singing the chorus to The Rembrandts' "I'll Be There For You" (which was famously the theme song for Friends' 10-year run), as Matthew's photo, which was the last to be displayed, showed on-screen.
Naturally, after seeing it, fans were overcome with emotions, and took to social media to express gratitude to trio for doing such justice for Matthew.
"So touching. Great job," one person wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). "Thanks for the tears, Emmys! Matthew, I still thank you for the laughs," another wrote. "Okay i dunno about yall but that broke me," someone else said.
There were, however, a few other comments about how disappointed they were that there wasn't a Friends reunion, as was promised.
"Ok.. where was the Friends reunion on the Emmys?," one person wrote. "We were *supposed* to get a reunion from the FRIENDS cast to honor Matthew Perry. I’m curious as to why it didn’t happen," said another.
As some fans may know, this isn't the first time Charlie honored Matthew's legacy with a performance of the Friends theme song.
Shortly after he heard the news of Matthew's death while on tour in Australia in October, he used his Melbourne performance to sing a medley of "I'll Be There For You" and "See You Again" with his audience. The clip a fan took from the concert quickly went viral at the time, garnering over 14 million views on TikTok.
As the entertainment and news associate editor for Good Housekeeping, Adrianna (she/her) writes about everything TV, movies, music and pop culture. She graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in business management. She covers shows like The Rookie, 9-1-1 and Grey's Anatomy, though when she’s not watching the latest show on Netflix, she’s taking martial arts or drinking way too much coffee.
