Jimmy Fallon ‘almost started crying’ when Thad Cockrell’s song Swingin’ hit No. 1

It’s been quite the week for musician Thad Cockrell, who was on the verge of looking for a new career before Jimmy Fallon discovered his song Swingin, which is now No. 1 on the iTunes charts.

Fallon discovered the song while he was at Wainscott Hardware in Wainscott, New York, while he was still shooting The Tonight Show from home.

He decided to take a chance and book Cockrell, 48, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, which lead to Swingin’ reaching the top of the iTunes charts, with Fallon telling People he ‘almost started crying’ upon hearing the news.

Fallon revealed he was in the hardware store looking for light switches, when he heard Swingin’ and used Shazam to identify the artist.

Fallon added the song, ’embodied my spirit at the time’ adding it became his ‘weekend anthem,’ to the point where he approached The Tonight Show talent booker Julie Gurovitsch with booking Cockrell on The Tonight Show.  

Cockrell performed from his home in a virtual performance while The Roots accompanied him from The Tonight Show set in New York on Tuesday.

‘The Roots absolutely crushed it,” Cockrell says. ‘I am such a fan of those guys. The beat that Questlove put down, I was like, “I think that’s better than the version that we got on the record.”‘

Cockrell, a big sports fan, revealed he was inspired to write the song from Buster Douglas’ 1990 knockout of Mike Tyson, considered one of the biggest upsets of all time.

‘Buster Douglas beat Mike Tyson at Mike Tyson’s prime. But what nobody talks about is Mike Tyson knocked down Buster Douglas first. Buster Douglas at some point had to think, “Okay, I’m going to get up, and I’m going to keep swinging.” That’s what the song’s about. It’s a song that says, “What if you don’t take defeat?”‘ Cockrell said.

After Cockrell performed on Tuesday night’s episode of The Tonight Show, the song leaped to #3 on the iTunes charts, and Thursday it reached #1.

‘The song was No. 3 on iTunes first, and I went, ‘Oh my God, what?'” Fallon says. “I freaked out. I’m like, ‘Thad, your song is No. 3 on iTunes!’ Two seconds after I sent that out, it went to No. 1. I almost started crying. This is the coolest thing. Everyone is so elated here at the show. Everyone’s dancing around like, ‘Wow. This is so awesome.'” 

What’s even more amazing about Cockrell’s story was, just weeks earlier, due to the lackluster response to his latest album If In Case You Feel The Same, he was considering trying another career.

‘When you’re making art on a commercial level, it’s a conversation and enough people have to sign up for the conversation in order to make it viable,’ Cockrell said.

‘It just wasn’t viable, you know? I have my master’s in family therapy, and I also have been making hot sauce. So. I thought, ‘Maybe that’s what I’ll do.’ I was just really putting it out there,’ he added.

When he sent his list of goals for 2021, including ‘find a new career’ to his management, they were quick to dismiss a career change.

‘They were like, “Hey, we’re not talking about the list that you sent — Jimmy Fallon has fallen in love with your song ‘Swingin”‘ and it’s like his anthem and he wants you to come play The Tonight Show.” I can’t tell you how speechless I was,’ he said.

Fallon joked that he wanted Cockrell to write him a song in appreciation for helping him climb the charts so quickly, with Cockrell saying he will oblige.

‘I am so writing a song about him. He might think it’s a joke, but I’m going to write a banger!’ Cockrell said.