Jimmy Fallon had tonight's struggling musical guest Thad Cockrell booked after hearing his song in a hardware store

Rolling Stone

Nashville singer-songwriter Cockrell is getting his big break tonight with a remote performance accompanied by The Roots after a 20-year career filled with ups and downs. The appearance comes as Cockrell was ready to call it quits and "look for a new career," as he wrote for one of his goals for 2021. Cockrell’s song came over the speakers last year while Fallon was shopping at a hardware store, causing the late-night host to stop shopping and immediately pull out his phone to identify the track. “It had this George Harrison-y feel, or ELO, Jeff Lynne-type of vibes,” Fallon tells Rolling Stone of Cockrell’s “Swingin.’” “I just stood there and listened to the whole song. I was mesmerized… I just kept listening to it. It’s a great song to crank in the car on the way home.” Fallon sent an email to Tonight Show music booker Julie Gurovitsch, asking if they could get Cockrell on the show. That's when he learned Cockrell was on the verge of changing careers.