Glenn Close

Glenn Close Dances ‘Da Butt' as DC Go-Go Music Gets Oscars Spotlight

Glenn Close jumped out of her seat to dance to E.U.'s 1988 hit "Da Butt" in one of the most talked about moments from the 2021 Oscars

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What to Know

  • Actor Glenn Close danced to E.U.'s song "Da Butt" and did the dance to the famous go-go song.
  • Go-go fans and residents of the D.C. area were overjoyed.
  • “Sugar Bear and Backyard have always represented Go-Go and our city to the fullest," E.U. and Sugar Bear said in response.

The premise for an interlude at the Oscars was simple: Questlove played a song and a chosen celebrity had to guess if the tune was ever nominated for or won an Oscar.

The game, run by “Judas and the Black Messiah” actor Lil Rel Howery toward the end of the Oscars live show, featured Andra Day, Daniel Kaluuya and Glenn Close.

When it was Close’s turn, E.U.’s 1988 hit “Da Butt” played for a few seconds. Howery expressed doubt that Close would know the song, but she proved him wrong.

She rattled off the song’s name, who wrote it, which movie it was in and the backstory on why it wasn’t nominated.

“Wait a second. Wait a second. That’s Da Butt,” Close exclaimed in what surely was a scripted moment. “It was a classic song by the great Washington, D.C. go-go band E.U. Shoutouts to Sugar Bear and the Backyard Band and the whole DMV.”

And when Howery asked her if she knew the dance, she jumped out of her seat and gyrated accordingly, instantly making it one of the most talked about moments from the historic 2021 Oscars.

“This is the Blackest Oscars of all time, y'all,” Howery joked.

Spike Lee had the song written for his 1988 film “School Daze,” but “my friends at the Oscars missed it,” said Close, who was bleeped when expressing her disappointment about its lack of a nomination.

Go-go music, with its distinctive beat and and emphasis on call and response, is the official music of D.C. after a declaration last year by Mayor Muriel Bowser. Every Aug. 22 in D.C. is Chuck Brown Day, honoring the Godfather of Go-Go. 

Go-go fans and residents of the D.C. area were overjoyed. 

E.U. and singer Sugar Bear thanked Glenn Close and the Oscars in a Facebook post Monday morning. 

“Sugar Bear and Backyard have always represented Go-Go and and our city to the fullest and that’s why Glenn Close knew them and paid homage to them! This was Huge and showed why Kenyan R. McDuffie and Mayor Bowser making Go-Go DC’s official music was so important to us!!” they wrote.

See the Best Looks From the Oscars 2021 Red Carpet

Day won her music trivia test for Prince's “Purple Rain” and also got bleeped in the process, guessing correctly that it was never nominated or won an Oscar. The film's score, yes. The song, no.

Kaluuya failed with Donna Summer's “Last Dance.” It won an Oscar. He said otherwise, with Close joking he was too young to recall the Summer era.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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