It happened the evening of April 8, 2000 - 20 years ago, and cowbells haven't been thought of the same way since: Saturday Night Live's legendary cowbell sketch.
Christopher Walken, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Parnell, and Horatio Sanz played roles as producers and performers in the "alleged" recording session for Blue Öyster Cult's hit "Don't Fear the Reaper." The song, from the band's "Agents of Fortune" album, reached #12 in the U.S. in 1976 and #16 in Britain in 1978. It's been a staple on classic rock and classic hits radio ever since. The song was actually sung by Blue Öyster Cult's lead guitarist Donald Roeser, who was also known as Buck Dharma. Many thought the song was about suicide, but it actually deals with the inevitability of death and the belief that we should not fear it. When Roeser wrote it, he was thinking about what would happen if he died at a young age and if he would be reunited with loved ones in the afterlife. He'd been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, which got him thinking about his mortality and inspired the song.
Most of us who've known the song well noticed cowbell within the song, but it was never a dominant sound within the music. However, when the sketch first aired (now 20 years ago, yikes!), as soon as Will Farrell - played fictional character Gene Frankle - started banging on that cowbell, we all knew where the sketch was going to lead. And it turned out oddly hilarious, culminating in millions of "more cowbell!" chants for decades afterward.
Recently, Will Ferrell showed up on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, talked about the skit they both appeared in. During the conversation, Ferrell revealed to Fallon an interesting perspective about the effects of the sketch that Christopher Walken told him years later. Check out the interview below!