Jimmy Fallon and Heart give legendary performance of ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ during eclipse
Jimmy Fallon found a unique way to get into the spirit of the 2024 total solar eclipse April 8.
The “Tonight Show” host teamed up with rock group Heart to perform the classic 1983 Bonnie Tyler hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart” during the actual eclipse while on the rooftop of New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza, with the performance airing on the show.
“We have a special show tonight. Heart is our musical guest, and today is obviously the solar eclipse, so we thought we have to do what we have to do. We have to sing ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ with Heart, while watching the solar eclipse,” he said while putting on special glasses to look at the sun as he introduced the clip.
Heart and Fallon then went out and put on a memorable performance. Fallon, sporting a mullet and left earring to capture the ‘80s-ness of the moment, actually turned around as he sang the “turn around” lyric that is prevalent in the song and continued to ham it up during the performance, which also featured multiple shots of the eclipse.
And those people old enough to remember Tyler’s video for the song will no doubt notice how Fallon wrapped up the performance by taking off his glasses to show off glaring lights in his eyes while he said, “Turn around bright eyes” — exactly the same way a student's eyes lit up in the video for Tyler’s song.
Several fans watching on YouTube loved the performance.
"Cool. Those eyes at the end. I love Heart! Love you to Jimmy! Great job guys!" one person wrote.
"omg this is so iconic," someone else raved.
"This is awesome," another person commented.
"Fantastic performance. Huge applause," another fan wrote.
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" was a huge hit for Tyler, rocketing to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100, where it would remain for four weeks. The song enjoys a resurgence every time an eclipse happens, something Tyler herself acknowledged during the 2021 eclipse.
"Notifications are blowing up. *checks news* Ah. There’s an eclipse," she wrote on X, then known as Twitter.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
