Righteous babe Ani DiFranco will join the ranks of Willie Nelson, Burt Reynolds and Green Day when she guests on Sunday's episode of "King of the Hill." |

The intensely independent singer/songwriter will make a cameo appearance alongside the late country luminary Tammy Wynette on the animated sitcom that revolves around propane salesman Hank Hill and his dysfunctional clan in Arlen, Texas. The Mother's Day episode, titled "Peggy's Turtle Song," will feature DiFranco as Emily, a feminist rocker who encourages the matriarchal Peggy Hill to ditch her vacuum for a guitar, and Wynette as Hank's mother, Tilly Hill.

"Apparently they wrote the character with me in mind, and the little cartoon has got spiky little dreadlocks, a bare midriff and these stompy boots," DiFranco said in a recent press release. "I thought it would be kinda funny to be a cartoon, because I feel like a cartoon most of the time."

Sunday's plot follows a flustered Peggy Hill as she quits her day job to watch over son, Bobby, when he is misdiagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder after eating his weight in sugary-sweet breakfast cereal. Unfulfilled by dusting and sewing, Peggy enrolls in guitar lessons, where she meets Emily. The show climaxes on Mother's Day, when Peggy abandons brunch in order to perform her first heart-wrenching gig.

Only one-and-a-half years old, "King of the Hill" is clearly taking pointers from fellow Fox Network cartoon, "The Simpsons." Over the last 11 years, America's first family of animation have invited hundreds of guest celebrities -- including Aerosmith, Spinal Tap, U2 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers -- to join in their antics.

In doing so, the family Simpson has paved the way for "King of the Hill" creator Mike Judge, who put "Beavis and Butthead" out of their misery last year in order to concentrate on the Hill gang. So far Judge's second animated show has featured cameos by Sally Field, James Carville, John Ritter, Chris Rock, Jennifer Jason Leigh and various others. (Anni Layne)