I love Amy Poehler with the burning passion of a thousand suns, and it’s not just because we here at Nerdist are a sibling-site to her amazing Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls. She was a member of my second SNL cast. (My first was Ana, Will, Cheri, et al.) She has been embedded in my comedy brain for years, and no joke, I’m smack dab in the middle of a Parks and Rec bingewatch this weekend. Not that anyone ever needs to qualify their Amy-love, but there’s mine.

In Los Angeles, Tenacious D’s Festival Supreme literally reigned supreme this weekend. The one-day festival took place Saturday and featured comedy and musical acts like Jenny Slate, Die Antwoord, Tim Minchin, Kids in the Hall, and many more. Amy was there, of course, and while she did partake in a comedy portion earlier in the day, she decided to surprise fans and return during Jack Black’s musical set later in the evening for this very, very special rendition of Bette Midler’s “The Rose.” It was a remarkably faithful rendition, save for the last stanza. She appears to have changed the original final lyrics to something that seemed specific to the crowd she was performing for.

If, for some reason, you’re not familiar with the tune, The Rose was a movie starring Bette Midler about a fictitious Janis Joplin-esque rock star, and the titular song became one of Midler’s most popular. Amy has had no shortage of love for Bette Midler over the years, gushing just last summer to Vulture that in her dreams, Amy and Bette are basically soul mates and have accomplished much together. Of course, her cover of “The Rose” is great without knowing the full back story, but it’s all the sweeter with context. Also, Kudos to Amy for her singing voice. Maybe in a few more years, we can convince Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph to bring Amy on as a permanent third member of Gemini’s Twin and they can all cut an album. <fingers crossed emoji>

The fact that Amy Performed “The Rose” this weekend is no small coincidence, because just recently she was discussing on the Crybabies podcast (jump to the 15:45 mark for “The Rose”-specific discussions) how much she feels drawn to the song, to Bette’s performance of it, to its musicality and melody.

Did your heart ebb and flow like the river or grow like the seed with the sun’s love at this rendition of “The Rose”? Let us know below!

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HT: Entertainment Weekly
Image: Billboard