Hugh Jackman Leads Sold-Out Crowd in Serenading Ian McKellen for His 80th Birthday

Hugh Jackman had to make up for the fact that he had to miss his dear friend’s birthday party.

Legendary actor Sir Ian McKellen turned 80 years old on Saturday, but Jackman was on stage for The Man, The Music, The Show in the U.K., unable to be with his X-Men costar on his special day. Instead, Jackman led the crowd in a serenade and posted the video to his Instagram.

“I’m sorry I can’t make your party, Ian, but I think I might annoy about 50,000 people,” he said, before cueing the audience to sing a rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

At the end of the video, The Wolverine star added, “Love you man, Happy Birthday,” before blowing a kiss at the camera. Throughout the song, he spun around on stage, showing the large crowd of people who all sang along and cheered at the end of the serenade.

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“Happy 80th Sir @ianmckellen .. and many more!” he captioned the video.

From the looks of some photos posted by cake artist Kay Gajra, Jackman missed quite the party.

In a series of photos, The Lord of the Rings star can be seen cutting a “vanilla cake with jam and buttercream” made by Gajra that was modeled after him, and can be seen enthusiastically holding up the first piece in celebration.

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McKellen’s close friend, actor Patrick Stewart also sent birthday wishes to him, sharing a photo on Instagram from the time McKellen officiated his wedding.

“Happy 80th birthday wishes to @IanMcKellen! Sunny and I are grateful for all the love over the years, whether as a dear friend, minister at our wedding, or colleague on screen and stage,” The Star Trek star wrote.

“PS: @MadameOzell says you look gorgeous in a morning suit,” Stewart added of his wife Sunny Ozell.

McKellen also posted in honor of his birthday, sharing a comical birthday card he received where his beloved characters Gandalf the Grey, Magneto and Richard III’s faces photoshopped on a Magic Mike poster — with the title changed to “Magic 80.”