Michael Stipe and Andrew Watt on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Michael Stipe appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday night to perform his recent single “I Played the Fool” with producer Andrew Watt. Stipe’s rare televised set included accompaniment from Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who also featured on the studio version, as well as RHCP drummer and frequent Watt collaborator Chad Smith, Queens of the Stone Age’s guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen and bassist Chris Chaney, formerly of Jane’s Addiction.

Stipe released “I Played the Fool” in March as the opening theme for the HBO dramedy Rooster, starring Steve Carell. With his first new song in three years, Stipe commented, “I’m thrilled to lend my voice to Rooster – as a giant fan of everyone involved, it’s a real honor to be included with ‘I Played The Fool’.” The R.E.M. frontman has been steadily returning to the public eye in the last few months, and last night’s Kimmel spot followed an appearance on the late Late Show with Stephen Colbert in April, during which he performed a new song titled “The Rest of Ever” and spoke about his debut solo album, which he said will arrive by the end of the year.

Stipe seemed eager to get into specifics about his long-awaited solo project on Colbert, noting that several songs are influenced by electronic music and that one is about “the sound of a tree hearing itself for the first time.” “It’s this confusing situation,’ he said. “My friend recorded a tree in my backyard in Georgia and played it back to itself, and so it sounds like Daft Punk.” That song also supposedly includes misheard lyrics from the sea shanty “What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?”

Watt, for his part, earned the co-bill for a flurry of recent high-profile production projects, including Paul McCartney’s The Boys of Dungeon Lane and The Rolling Stones’ upcoming Foreign Tongues. The 35-year-old’s other recent high-profile collaborators include Brandi Carlile, Lady Gaga, Elton John, Pearl Jam, Iggy Pop and Ozzy Osbourne. 

Watch Stipe and Watt’s performance below.