Adam Sandler: Why Roseanne Barr refused to sing ‘The Chanukah Song’ on ‘SNL’

Adam Sandler is known for his 1994 hit “The Chanukah Song,” so it comes as a surprise that he actually wasn’t offered to sing it first on “Saturday Night Live.”

The comedian, 57, who debuted the tune on a “Weekend Update” sketch with late actor Norm Macdonald, now reveals that Roseanne Barr was initially asked to take center stage.

At the time, Barr, 71, was hosting the NBC sketch comedy show that week.

“They were talking about Roseanne singing it,” Sandler told Access Hollywood recently.

He went on: “And she was nice enough to say ‘no, let Adam do that, that’s his, he wrote it, that’s his song.’”

“I’m happy to be a part of Hanukkah. That was a good time of life to be associated with the song and the holiday. Very proud of that,” he recalled.

The New York native added that he now sings the song “alone” and “without the kids.”

Barr was the original choice to croon “The Chanukah Song.”
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Sandler shares daughters Sadie, 17, and Sunny, 15, with wife Jackie Sandler.

“I go into our basement, I rip it out, I do the soft-shoe to it,” he said. “If it comes on the radio, and I hear it, I get excited. That’s still awesome.”

In the skit, Sandler was perplexed that there was a lack of Hanukkah songs for the holiday season.

Adam Sandler and Norm Macdonald on “Saturday Night Live” in 1994.
SNL

“Put on your yarmulke / Here comes Hanukkah / So much funukah / To celebrate Hanukkah,” he crooned on the episode. “Hanukkah is the festival of lights / Instead of one day of presents, we have eight crazy nights.”

The “Eight Crazy Nights” actor then rattled off names of famous A-listers of Jewish descent, such as David Lee Roth, James Caan, Kirk Douglas and Dinah Shore.

“O.J. Simpson, not a Jew. But guess who is? Hall of Famer Rod Carew — he converted,” he sang. “We got Ann Landers and her sister Dear Abby. Harrison Ford’s a quarter Jewish — not too shabby.”

Sandler recently appeared with his children in the Netflix comedy “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.”

“Put on your yarmulke. Here comes Hanukkah,” the “Mr. Deeds” star sang on the sketch show.
AFP via Getty Images

The “Longest Yard” actor shared advice for Sadie and Sunny as they embark on the next stage of their acting careers.

Earlier this week, he told People that he advised his daughters to “make sure you feel good about what you do and how hard you worked.”

He added: “Don’t let too many people try to get in your head. If you feel like you gave it your all, that’s all you can ask.”