Fallon’s Tonight Show Wraps 2024—With a Holiday Song, Naturally

In what’s become a Tonight Show holiday tradition, Jimmy Fallon rang out 2024 in song as part of his final episode of the year.

In a clip from Thursday night’s episode (above), Fallon is seen performing his original holiday song “Hey Rudy” with The Roots, complete with a special appearance from The Radio City Rockettes. 

Fallon collaborated with his house band on the poppy homage to a certain red-nosed reindeer for his new holiday album Holiday Seasoning, which was released earlier this fall. They’ve since performed it together at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and on the Tonight Show host’s recent primetime special Jimmy Fallon’s Holiday Seasoning Spectacular.

This isn’t the first time that Fallon and his house band have performed an original holiday-themed song to ring out the year.

Last year’s final episode of the year saw Fallon and The Roots dressed in gaudy ’80s garb as they performed a tribute to gift cards, titled “Get a Gift Card.” A year earlier, Fallon performed as Elvis Presley in “Elvis on the Shelvis.”

Neither of those songs ended up on Fallon’s Holiday Seasoning album, which features 16 original songs, including collaborations with Ariana Grande and Megan Thee Stallion, Justin Timberlake, Jonas Brothers, Meghan Trainor, Dolly Parton, Will Ferrell, Chelsea Handler and “Weird Al” Yankovic.

The album debuted at #2 on Billboard’s holiday albums chart, and just last week Fallon notched his first-ever #1 hit song on the Adult Contemporary single chart with “Holiday,” his collaboration with Jonas Brothers.  

Perhaps the most delightful thing to have come out of the album for Fallon, though, may have been the video he was sent by the parent of a fifth grader whose class recently performed “Holiday” at a  Christmas Pageant.

After playing a clip of their performance on Wednesday night’s Tonight Show, Fallon exclaimed “Isn’t that unbelievable? I wrote that song!” I wrote that song! Come on, that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.” He went on to thank the fifth grade class at Community Magnet Charter School in Los Angeles, adding “That made my year.”

Fallon and The Roots’ performance of “Hey Rudy” tonight comes on the heels of another holiday-themed Tonight Show episode. Last night, Darlene Love brought her traditional rendition of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” to Fallon’s show for the first time—continuing a decades-long tradition from David Letterman‘s two late-night shows that dates back to 1986

Fallon’s guest lineup tonight also includes Chloe Fineman and Martin Short, who will be hosting Saturday Night Live’s Christmas episode  this weekend.