Adam Sandler still holds his late friend Chris Farley near to his heart more than twenty years after Farley's death.
During a recent episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Sandler reflected on his friendship with Farley, who died in Dec. 1997 of a drug overdose at age 33. The comedian revealed that he still gets “so emotional” when he performs the “Chris Farley Song,” a musical tribute he wrote several years ago to memorialize the late “Saturday Night Live” star.
Sandler performed the song as part of his Netflix special “Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh” and released it in Dec. 2018 to mark the 21st anniversary of Farley’s death. The following year, he paid tribute to Farley on the “SNL” main stage on his first hosting gig in May 2019.
“The first few times, we played that song, I would tear up and I couldn’t really sing it well because I’d get so emotional and then I felt it and was able to get it out there," Sandler said of the tune.
He shared that to this day, he is still affected by his friend’s death and the tribute song to him, adding, “It’s weird, but when that song starts, I go, ‘Oh f--k, alright, don’t cry and don’t do that’ still. I’ve sang it maybe a hundred times already, but it rocks me.”
“I think it’s because we show a video of Chris and I see his face,” he said, referring to a montage video that shows clips of some of Farley’s best comedic moments. “And I remember his dad and I’m friends with his brothers and his mom and everybody and they still miss him a lot. So yeah, it gets me.”
Sandler said he loves “hearing the crowd go nuts for Farley,” adding, “Every show I do, by far the biggest applause of the night is talking about Farley and any time I mention his name, the audience goes nuts. It feels great.”
The 56-year-old revealed that while he is able to get through the song each night, his friend and fellow “SNL” alum David Spade, who was also close friends with Farley, prefers not to listen to Sandler’s tribute track.
“He’s like ‘Man, sometimes I can’t listen, I gotta walk away because I get so upset,’” Sandler said of Spade. “We loved him. We loved him so much…He was as cool as it gets.”
Sandler, Spade, and Farley all overlapped at “SNL” during the early ‘90s, as well as several other comedians, such as Mike Myers.
Spade is among the group of former “SNL” co-stars who continue to keep Farley’s memory alive. He often shares photos and memories of Farley on social media, including memorabilia from their films and sometimes just memes.
In Feb. 2017, the comedian shared a touching tribute on Instagram to Farley on what would have been his 53rd birthday, posting a throwback photo of the duo.
In the caption, Spade wrote in part, “Still has an effect on me and lots of people around the world. Its funny that i run into people. Ow that dont know who he is. Thats the reality of life moving on but still shocks me a bit.”
“If u havent heard of him maybe look him up,” he added. “Lots of laughs i promise Ps this duckface was cranked to the maximus.”