'He chose us': Jim Belushi joined Memphis band on stage at Rum Boogie Café for two nights

Imagine your band playing the usual gig at Rum Boogie Café on Beale Street and everything seems normal.

Then, actor Jim Belushi joins the stage with his harmonica — twice.

Local Memphis band FreeWorld played its usual set at Rum Boogie Café on Friday night when lead singer Richard Cushing noticed someone familiar in the bar.

"I recognized him, but not really," Cushing said. "I knew that I knew who he was but when I first looked at him I thought he was somebody I went to high school with... then my keyboard player told me it's Jim Belushi."

Cushing then invited him to join the stage and Belushi pulled out his harmonica. The singer said they played "Messin' With the Kid" by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, then "Sweet Home Chicago" from the movie The Blues Brothers, which starred Belushi's brother John Belushi.

"It made the band feel really good that we, at Rum Boogie, got to experience that," Cushing said. "He walked up and down the street, he heard a band that he felt compelled to go to and it was us, he chose us. He heard the band, he came in, he jumped up on stage and joined us then he left, so it was quite a compliment to the band."

Cushing said Belushi looked comfortable on stage, had full command of the room and "just killed it."

"The place is always fairly full," Cushing said. "But I looked up, and he must be a magnet, and the place was just suddenly shoulder-to-shoulder packed."

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After a couple of songs with the "Saturday Night Live" and "Twin Peaks" actor, Cushing ushered to an employee to grab a guitar for Belushi to sign, but he left before the instrument made it to the stage.

Cushing said Belushi promised to come back and sign a guitar, a tradition at Rum Boogie Café.

On Saturday night, Belushi made it back on stage with FreeWorld for some songs and fulfilled his promise by signing a guitar.

Belushi played a couple more songs on stage with FreeWorld Saturday then left again, thanking the band members and bar employees.

"You never know what will happen on Beale Street," Cushing said. "It's not an everyday occurrence but it gave us a jolt."

FreeWorld began making music in 1987 and plays across the Mid-South with its nine members including Cushing, Peter Climie, Christopher Stephenson, Will Paladino, Freedman Steorts, Walter Hughes, Courtney Reid, Matt Sweat and Frank Paladino.

FreeWorld performs on Rum Boogie Café's stage each weekend.

Dima Amro covers the suburbs for The Commercial Appeal and can be reached at Dima.Amro@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @AmroDima.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: SNL actor Jim Belushi joined Memphis band FreeWorld at Rum Boogie Café