Roseanne Barr turned down singing ‘Hanukkah Song’ on ‘SNL’

Adam Sandler He first performed “The Chanukah Song” in 1994 during the “Weekend Update” segment of “Saturday Night Live.” Although he wrote the Christmas song himself, Sandler revealed in an interview with Access Hollywood that Roseanne Barr, who was the host that week, almost performed the song on the late-night show.

“They were talking about having Roseanne sing it,” Sandler recalled. “And she was nice enough to say ‘no, she lets Adam do that, that’s his, he wrote it, that’s her song.'”

During the “Weekend Update” segment with Norm Macdonald in 1994, Sandler explained that he wrote the song after noticing the lack of music about Hanukkah.

“Put on your kippah. Here comes Hanukkah. So much fun. To celebrate Hanukkah,” Sandler sang. “Hanukkah is the festival of lights. Instead of one day of gifts, we have eight crazy nights.”

Sandler then listed several celebrities who are Jewish, including David Lee Roth, James Caan, Kirk Douglas and Dinah Shore.

“OJ Simpson, he’s not Jewish. But guess who he is? “Hall of Famer Rod Carew became,” the comedian continued. “We have Ann Landers and her sister Dear Abby. Harrison Ford is a quarter Jewish…not bad at all.

Sandler, considered the king of Hanukkah, said of the song’s success: “I’m happy to be a part of Hanukkah. That was a good time of life to be associated with song and festivity. “I’m very proud of it.”

Does Sandler still sing “The Hanukkah Song”? “I sing it alone, I sing it without the kids, I go to our basement, I rip it out, I put the soft shoe on,” he said. “If they put it on the radio and I hear it, I get excited. “That’s still amazing.”