Bruce Springsteen Performs With the Roots, Covers Willow Smith on 'Fallon'

Of Bruce Springsteen's promotional appearances surrounding the release of 'The Promise,' the new album of outtakes from the 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' sessions, the biggest hype was reserved for his appearance on 'Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.' Not only was the show dedicated solely to Springsteen (minus a little comedy), but it also promised that the rocker would be playing with Fallon's house band, the Roots.


As expected, the performances were nothing short of stellar. Springsteen joined E Street guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who also sat in for a portion of the interview, and keyboardist Roy "The Professor" Bittan for powerful renditions of 'Because the Night' and 'Save My Love.' The Boss also donned his trademark '70s look to cover Willow Smith's 'Whip My Hair' alongside Fallon, who played the song as Neil Young.

In the interview portion of the show, Springsteen was his usual interesting, jocular self. While going over a replica notebook that's included in 'The Promise' box set, he quipped about letting the E Street Band vote on the songs they liked from and ultimately ignored their opinions. In that vein, Van Zandt later joked that he wanted to call the resurrected album 'A Bunch of Lost Arguments.' The pair also discussed how Springsteen gave away 'Because the Night' to Patti Smith, with Van Zandt pretending to want to strangle the Boss over that loss. Check out clips from the episode below.