Adam Sandler is known for his silly tunes, and hilarious jokes during his live shows, but the moment that always brings the house down, according to the SNL alum, is when he sings his tribute to his friend Chris Farley. While he likes singing the song, he also opened up about how hard it still is to play even though he’s done it so many times.
While on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, Sandler talked about his funny Gotham speech where he roasted Timothée Chalamet, how he and his costars dealt with tough reviews, and he reflected on his relationship with Farley, as well as how hard it is for him to sing his song about the Tommy Boy star.
It’s pretty funny because I play the song about Chris. I do it when I tour, it’s at the end of the show when I play it. Every show we’re about to play it, and I go ‘Alright, here we go.’ The first few times we played that song I would tear up, and I couldn’t really sing it well because I get so emotional, and then I felt it and was able to get it out there.
I think it makes perfect sense why Sandler would get so emotional every time. The tune is somber and the comedian doesn’t hold back from candidly singing about Farley’s death. He references the tragic parallels between his friend and John Belushi, including their deaths, however, he also talks about just how gifted Farley was as a comedian. Going through his friend’s life, and his untimely death must be an emotional task, and Sandler noted that it is, explaining:
It’s weird but when that song starts I go ‘Oh, fuck, don’t cry and don’t do that,’ still. I’ve sang it maybe a 100 times already but it rocks me. I think it’s because we show video of Chris and I see his face and I remember his dad, and I’m friends with his brothers and his mom and everybody and they still miss him a lot. It gets me.
I’d imagine the song, while hard to sing, must be a cathartic experience too. Sandler did talk about how nice it is to hear the crowd react to his tribute to the iconic SNL alum, saying:
I love hearing the crowd go nuts for Farley, every show I do by far the biggest applause of the night is talking about Farley. Every time I mention his name and the audience goes nuts feels great.
In the video of Sandler singing the song in his Netflix special from 2018 you can see just how into it the crowd gets, and at the end it gets a standing ovation, check it out:
After talking about how the crowd loves the song, Sandler mentioned that David Spade was on tour with him for a few shows. He said when that song came on Farley's Tommy Boy co-star would have to walk away for a minute because it was hard to listen to. Spade has been open about his success with Farley in the Tommy Boy movies as well as their friendship.
Along with Spade and Sandler, many other actors and comedians have spoken about the impact Farley had on their lives. Jim Carrey once posted a tribute to Farley, explaining that he believes in angels along with a photo of the two comedians. Farley's brother, Kevin Farley included stories about Chris in his stand-up set that was both touching and hilarious.
All this love really proves the final words Sandler said about Chris Farley in his interview:
We loved him, we loved him so much.
I love that Sandler sings about Farley in his live shows all the time, and I hope that if he returns to host SNL again he’ll be able to pay tribute to his friend -- like he did during Season 44 when he performed the song. I’d assume since Sandler’s movie Hustle (which can be watched with a Netflix subscription) is a notable entry on the 2022 movie schedule we’ll see him back on the SNL stage soon. However, for now it’s wonderful to hear the stories about his time on the iconic sketch show, and his friendship with Chris Farley.
