Jimmy Fallon, Idina Menzel, Perform ‘Let It Go’ With Kids’ Instruments
It’s safe to assume when Idina Menzel first sang her Academy Award-winning song “Let It Go” from Frozen, she didn’t expect to be performing the track with Jimmy Fallon, the Roots and a set of children’s instruments. But here we are.
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Armed with a xylophone, Casio keyboard, a triangle and a sense of humor, the crew performed the first Tonight Show version of a series that had become massively popular on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” has more than 17 million views on YouTube alone).
As Hollywood Reporter points out, Roots frontman Black Thought said that Fallon, the Roots and the special guest determine the arrangement “in an instant” and that where people are sitting determines what instruments they’ll play.
The Frozen soundtrack has dominated the charts this year, hitting Number One on the Billboard 200 for five non-consecutive weeks and selling more than 1 million copies in the U.S. alone.
U2, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, Tim McGraw and Justin Timberlake all appeared on Fallon’s first Tonight Show week. In the first show’s final segment, Fallon convinced U2 to perform an “impromptu” acoustic rendition of “Ordinary Love,” the group’s Golden Globe–winning track currently up for an Oscar. Bono singled out one of the Roots in particular with some subbed lyrics: “We cannot reach any higher, if we can’t deal with . . . Questlove.” Questlove summed up his shout-out as “the most magical moment EVER.”