Sam Smith, Ariana Grande, Roots Sing All-Star ‘We Are the Champions’ on ‘Fallon’
Queen‘s “We Are the Champions” is as synonymous to winning the Super Bowl as “I’m going to Disney World.” Following the New England Patriots’ palpitating 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks in the Big Game, a special post-Super Bowl episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon unleashed an all-star a cappella version of the song.
With the screen divided into a nine-square grid a la The Brady Bunch opening credits, Fallon sang the opening lines of the News of the World classic while the Roots constructed a tight rhythm section using only their own mouths. Then Carrie Underwood flipped in to carry the song for a few lyrics, which was followed by new Rolling Stone cover star Sam Smith and Ariana Grande sharing a duet on the triumphant chorus.
Usher, Blake Shelton, Meghan Trainor and One Direction (who just toy around after being squeezed into one square) also contributed to the “Champions” bit, but in an a cappella performance that featured big time voices like Underwood and Grande, it’s Christina Aguilera who steals the song with a skyscraping final chorus during the grand finale.
This isn’t the first time Fallon delivered one of these inventive a cappellas: In an October 2013 episode of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (before the host’s Tonight Show tenure began last February), Fallon, the Roots and Miley Cyrus teamed up for a similarly minimalist rendition of her hit single “We Can’t Stop.”