Adam Levine has one of the most unique voices in contemporary pop music. However, Levine may actually be more of a musical chameleon than we thought.
The Maroon 5 frontman appeared on the Sept. 2 episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," and although Levine performed with his band during the show, Fallon put him to work early. When you've got someone who can sing and is generally up for some comedic shenanigans, you've got to take advantage of it.
Levine and Fallon played a new game to "The Tonight Show" called "The Wheel of Musical Impressions." Each pressed the handy dandy "Tonight Show" button, which stopped on an artist whose musical style they had to replicate while singing a song.
Levine was first up to the plate, crooning "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" as Frank Sinatra. He also took on the "Sesame Street" theme song, which seems like a favorite of Fallon's and his backing band The Roots. I was actually quite impressed that Levine seemed to know all of the words to this tune. With his eyes closed, he turned "Sunny day / Sweepin' the clouds away" into a smooth R&B ditty. His final impression of Eddie Vedder singing "The Muffin Man" (Yes, "The Muffin Man") probably sounded the most like the actual singer.
Fallon also took a spin on "The Wheel of Musical Impressions." First up for him was Magic!'s "Rude" sung in the style of Bob Dylan. It's an impression we've seen Fallon do before, so no surprise here that it would be a strong likeness. However, Fallon missed the mark when he had to sing "Old McDonald Had a Farm" like Iggy Azalea. Fallon sang the children's classic more in the style of Charli XCX, who provides the chorus for Azalea's mega-hit "Fancy," which was just not a good look for him. Although Fallon did redeem himself at the end with a quick "Let's get drunk on the mini barn," which was a smart farm-themed parody of one of the song's original lyrics.
We've seen Fallon do plenty of impressive impressions over the years, from Bruce Springsteen to Neil Young to Jim Morrison, that his performance during "The Wheel of Musical Impressions" was kind of a letdown. Sorry, Fallon. I think Levine is the clear winner of this one.
