Ad-Rock Makes First Ever Solo Talk Show Visit to ‘Tonight Show’
As part of Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz’s post-Beastie Boys life, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer appears in a co-starring role in Ben Stiller’s new film While We’re Young. To promote the movie, Ad-Rock stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to make what he called his “first talk show appearance by myself.” During his wild visit, Horovitz talked about touring with Madonna, befriended Will Forte and declined to touch “river monsters.”
Fallon opens up the interview by asking about the origins of an old photograph featuring the Beastie Boys with David Lee Roth and actor Sean Penn. Ad-Rock says the picture was taken in 1985 on the first night of Madonna’s Like a Virgin tour, which featured the Beasties as opening act. Horovitz then relays the story about how Russell Simmons, their manager at the time, tricked Madonna’s manager into hiring the Beastie Boys to open for her, even though the band hadn’t even recorded their debut LP Licensed to Ill yet. Ad-Rock also reveals that, while Madonna’s audiences hated the Beasties, she fought to keep the group on the tour.
After the first half of the segment, the chat devolved into the textbook pranksterism that often marked Beastie Boys interviews, with Horovitz leering into the Tonight Show monitors to criticize his own appearance – “I should have shaved or showered or something. I’m wearing a dirty shirt. I should have worn a hat. I feel like I have a big forehead” – as well as strike up a private conversation with Forte, Fallon’s opening guest.
Ad-Rock’s Tonight Show visit ended with a tutorial on strange fish courtesy of River Monsters host Jeremy Wade. Although Forte was game to get involved in the gag, Horovitz – now wearing a hat – opted to watch from the sidelines.