The one where Courteney Cox plays Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit on the drums and goes viral

Blue Carpet held at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 06, 2025 in Queens
(Image credit: Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images)

Courteney Cox – the actress best known for her role as Monica in Friends – has been impressing folk online with something she’s hitherto not been renowned for: her drumming skills.

The 59-year-old uploaded a video of her playing along to Smells Like Teen Spirit, on a fairly basic drum kit, and it has gone viral.

“I like seeing actors having hobbies and enjoying themselves,” said one commenter on Reddit, whilst another wrote: “I love how women just get cooler and cooler with age.”

Others were in agreement: “Love Nirvana… Courteney sounds pretty good on the drums.” “That’s great! She looked like she was having a lot of fun. I love the drums on Teen Spirit,” another said.

Smells Like Teen Spirit is a pretty good song to focus on if you want to improve your drumming skills. Its beauty is that you can play it no matter your skill level. If you’re a beginning you can play the intro with just a snare and a kick drum. Intermediate drummers can add hi hats and quarter notes, and so on up through skill levels until the differences will be in feel and a slight drag on the cymbal crashes.

Play "Smells Like Teen Spirit" On The Drums | 5 Levels - YouTube Play
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We’re not sure where Courteney is currently on the skill chart, but she’s surely getting there.

No word yet on what Dave Grohl thinks of her efforts...

Will Simpson
News and features writer

Will Simpson is a freelance music expert whose work has appeared in Classic Rock, Classic Pop, Guitarist and Total Guitar magazine. He is the author of 'Freedom Through Football: Inside Britain's Most Intrepid Sports Club' and his second book 'An American Cricket Odyssey' is due out in 2025

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