No, you're somehow not dreaming. It appears as if 91-year-old Star Trek icon, singer and author, William Shatner, has recorded a cover of Rob Zombie's "Great American Nightmare."
The dignified entertainer made a special appearance on a recent episode of Howard Stern's The Stern Show, where his gravelly voice can be heard croaking out the lyrics to the song Rob Zombie wrote for Stern's 1997 bio comedy, Private Parts. For years, Stern has used the tune as the theme song for his radio show, and his voice actually appears on the original version.
However, Stern allegedly convinced Shatner, who's promoting a new book called Boldly Go, to come into the studio and do an impromptu take on the main verse of "Great American Nightmare." In an audio clip Stern shared on his website, you can hear what appears to be the real Shatner singing along to the track, and afterwards Stern reassures his co-host Robin Quivers that it is indeed the real Shatner who we're hearing on the recording.
Stern's radio shows have always featured many bits and gags, but this story is granted more legitimacy when Stern explains that Shatner didn't want to sing the word "motherfucker" during his studio session, so he just laughed maniacally instead when that part came up, which you can hear on the version he played on the show.
Rob Zombie himself was over the moon about hearing Shatner sing one of his own tunes. "Having William Shatner cover one of my songs is the highlight of my very bizarre career," Zombie wrote on Instagram. "Big thanks to Howard for making this happen!"
Without further adieu, hear Shatner sing "Great American Nightmare" below via Stern's official Soundcloud page.
