Coachella has been the site of several landmark pop culture moments over the years, from Daft Punk's legendary set to Beyoncé's Homecoming to that Tupac hologram. And the tradition of iconic performances has continued this year. This time, though, nobody could have predicted the who and the why behind the set that went viral.

Musical composer Danny Elfman, the creator of the soundtracks from some of the most popular movies and TV shows of all time like The Simpsons, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands, took to the stage on Saturday night. And midway through the set, he stripped to the waist, revealing a lean, muscular physique covered in tattoos.

In an interview with Variety following the performance, Elfman revealed that the decision to go shirtless on stage was an entirely spontaneous one, and that it was a way of both harkening back to the kind of shows he used to do as a younger musician, and showing the world exactly what he looks like now, in his late sixties.

"I just wanted to come out exactly like if you saw me 30 or 40 years ago, and here I am now," he said. "And to not be embarrassed or ashamed by that. It’s like, “Yeah, I’m an old man. Fuck it — here I am. And so that [taking the shirt off] was kind of spontaneous. The sixth or seventh song, I just remember going, 'The hell with it. I’m just going to take it right back to, if there’s somebody who saw me in 1990, this is what they would have seen,' and just go for it. It was just part of putting myself out there. That was the last layer, I guess, of protection, of armor, and I decided to give that up too... That was kind of a surrender of the last tiny bit of protection I had between me now and my past and what I am and what I was. And it was just not something I thought out in advance."

For a large number of people, either in the crowd or watching at home, the sight of Elfman's ripped, inked torso was the best kind of surprise. And they made their feelings known on Twitter.

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Elfman was pleasantly surprised by just how enthusiastic—and, at times, thirsty—the reaction to his physique has been, telling Variety: "All that hard work pays off, I guess. You know, I’ve tried my whole life to stay in shape, and I guess I’m glad I did now! Because I thought this was likely going to read like, 'Oh my God, I wanted to throw up when I saw him take his shirt off. He looked horrible.'"