Adam Sandler says Roseanne Barr was originally to sing “The Chanukah Song”
It would certainly be an interesting alternate universe
Adam Sandler’s iconic Saturday Night Live musical number “The Chanukah Song” is nearly 30 years old, but he just dropped a surprising reveal about the song in a chat with Access Hollywood about his new movie Leo. The song was written for an episode hosted by Roseanne Barr in December of 1994, and Sandler told Access Hollywood that Barr was originally going to be the one to sing it, but she recognized that Sandler (who co-wrote it originally with SNL writers Lewis Morton and Ian Maxtone-Graham) deserved to be able to sing it himself.
The rest is Hanukkah history, of course, with Sandler laughing off a suggestion in the Access Hollywood interview that he’s the “Mariah Carey of Hanukkah” despite the song’s ongoing popularity (it inspired a movie!). He joked that he’ll sing the song alone in his basement these days, but he said that he and his family are actually still proud of it and he still gets excited when he hears it.
And to think that would all be a little different if Roseanne Barr had sung it. Surely the song would be a little more problematic these days if that had been its origin, with everyone having annual conversations about whether or not you can separate the fun of “The Chanukah Song” with the less-fun of modern Roseanne Barr. Would Adam Sandler still be the voice of Leo in Leo? Would Access Hollywood be doing an interview where he said “y’know, I was originally going to sing the song,” and we’d all be like “yeah, that would’ve been better than having Roseanne Barr sing it.”
Leo is on Netflix this week, and Eight Crazy Nights is on Prime Video and Hulu. Old Saturday Night Live episodes are on Peacock. That should cover everything.