Waits to star in The Simpsons

TVLine announces Tom Waits will lend his voice to The Simpsons‘ upcoming Season 24. Waits will play himself as someone who helps introduce Homer to a community of survivalists, executive producer Al Jean tells TVLine.

From TVLine:

“We did a lot of research into the ‘prepper’ phenomenon, where people are convinced that some horrible catastrophe – like an electromagnetic pulse – is going to occur, and that people will have to survive without the grid,” he says. So naturally, “Homer becomes a prepper.” Jean says that the Grammy-winning Waits won’t sing in the episode, titled “Homer Goes to Prep School,” but fans will recognize the singer’s trademark growl “in a second.”

 An authograph signed by Matt Groening (The Simpsons) after the 1999 Tom Waits show at the LA Wiltern. Very kindly provided by the lucky owner, Don Schantz.