On the same night Miley Cyrus released her new cover of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” the singer dropped by The Tonight Show to play the “Name That Song Challenge” with Jimmy Fallon. In the game, Tonight Show house band the Roots played a popular song one instrument at a time, with Fallon and Cyrus buzzing in to guess the track.
The late-night host staked an early lead thanks to his ability to identify Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock N’ Roll” and Bob Marley’s “Could You Be Loved,” but Cyrus staged a comeback thanks to songs like Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe,” her godmother Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” and her own “Party in the U.S.A.” However, Fallon picked up the game’s final challenge, Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend,” which turned into an all-audience sing-along.
On Thursday night, Cyrus shared her rendition of the Plastic Ono Band’s 1971 single, which she recorded alongside producer Mark Ronson and Lennon’s son Sean Ono Lennon.
“We went to Electric Lady with Sean Ono Lennon and we got to cut ‘War is Over,’” Cyrus told Fallon. “And so we’re also doing it on SNL – we want to do a Christmas song, and I don’t think anything could speak louder than what’s going on right now than about ‘War is Over.’”
Cyrus will perform both her Lennon cover and her new single “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” while serving as musical guest on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live.