Jimmy Fallon talks about his viral hit from “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” in which he and Justin Timberlake rap to some of the greatest hip-hop songs in history! Whose idea was it?
Musicians coming together to jam isn't a new phenomenon, but the all-star line up and covers that came out of a fortuitous pairing of a rock god, hip hop's most versatile band, and a comedian skilled at the art of impersonation are going to give Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber a few reasons to worry about their status as YouTube's most viewed artists.
On the November 16 episode of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," the comic sat down with legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen, who is currently promoting "The Promise," a collection of unreleased tracks and rarities discovered while the Boss was compiling material left over from 1978's "Darkness on the Edge of Town" sessions.
After chatting about the uncovered material, the host brought out Springsteen's long time sidekick, "Little" Stevie Van Zandt, to talk more about "Because the Night," a Springsteen song made famous by Patti Smith. As if to show that the song was still a product of his, Springsteen and Van Zandt jumped on stage to perform a rendition, with the help of in-house band, hip hop stars The Roots.
Joined by the E Street Band's pianist Roy Bittan, the three rock stars and the multi-talented hip hop act ripped through a passionate version of the song, much to the delight of the studio audience. They also performed one of the lost tunes from the forthcoming album.
That would have almost been more than any music fan could handle, but then another rock "legend" stopped by to up the ante.
Fallon, doing his dead-on impression of Neil Young, appeared alone on stage and started to sing Willow Smith's hit single, "Whip My Hair." Halfway through, Springsteen -- decked out with a pageboy cap and sunglasses to recall his look from the 1970s -- joined for the chorus.
Who would have guessed that the 10-year-old daughter of Will Smith would already have her work covered by The Boss?
