What do you get the girl who has everything? And by everything, we mean multiple Grammy awards, an Oscar, an Emmy and countless chart-topping hits.
Well, you get her an impromptu meeting with The Rock.
At the Grammys this past weekend, superstar Adele was surprised by none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, proving that even the biggest A-listers in the world still get starstruck.
During his opening monologue, Grammys host Trevor Noah brought out Johnson, who stunned Adele and greeted her with a giant hug at her front row table in the audience. “This is one of the strangest things I found out,” Noah said. “The person that Adele has always wanted to meet, but never has, is Dwayne Johnson…I found out he’s a huge fan of yours, too.” Later during the show, as fate would have it, Johnson was the presenter of the category that Adele won, and handed over her award for best pop solo performance.
Adele has made her fascination with Johnson no secret, revealing in a December 2021 appearance with YouTuber NikkieTutorials, “Someone that I’ve never met that I think I would actually cry is The Rock.” The singer said she was “the biggest wrestling fan when I was younger,” and shared that Johnson had sent her flowers when he couldn’t make one of her shows. “I nearly fell off my chair,” she raved.
Now, Johnson himself tells PvNew how he pulled off the surprise.
“We wanted to do something special for Adele,” Johnson tells PvNew exclusively. “I know that she is a very big fan of mine and has made that clear publicly many times. But I’ve got to tell you, I am a huge fan of hers, as well — her music, her journey, her openness and directness in how she speaks. I’ve always admired that about her.”
Johnson has been in production on his upcoming film, “Red One,” and was hoping to wrap in time to attend the Grammys, since he and his wife, singer-songwriter Lauren Hashian, wanted to attend the ceremony together. (The married couple shares 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 attendance to the Grammys, the telecast’s executive producer, Ben Winston of Fulwell 73, pitched him the idea of surprising Adele at the top of the show. Winston knew that Adele was a huge fan of the wrestler-turned-movie-star, and had previously invited Johnson to Adele’s “One Night Only” concert special at the Griffith Observatory, but he wasn’t able to make it (hence, him sending her flowers).
“We were trying to figure out something to do that was going to be fun and surprise her, and we had kicked around ideas all week,” Johnson shares of his conversations with Winston and the producing team. “The key to a surprise like that is to actually keep it a surprise. Myself and the Grammys went to great lengths to make sure that Adele was authentically surprised in the moment, and she was.”
“It was just a great surprise and I was able to chat with her a little bit and her boyfriend, Rich Paul,” Johnson says. “And talk about the universe meeting our friendship halfway: I get up onstage and I open that Grammy envelope and it said ‘Adele.’ So that’s why I was able to say, ‘Get up here best friend, Adele!’ It was such a special night. And she’s such a special iconic brilliant inspiring artist who has inspired a generation and who will continue to inspire generations to come. I love that woman. We had a really great time tonight. I think probably the best part about it is she’s just cool — and I had never met her before.”
