Rosalía charms Jimmy Fallon, teaching him to sing, clap and speak Spanish

“They love you, we love you.” The opening could not have been clearer. Although viewers had to wait until almost 1 a.m., New York time, to see the much-anticipated Rosalía on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show on NBC, the singer’s 20 minutes on the show were worth it. During them, Fallon paid homage to the creator of Lux. The Catalan singer was the main guest on The Tonight Show, which aired a special episode on Sunday due to a national football league game. Dressed in white, with her now-characteristic halo in her long, loose hair, Rosalía captivated the conversation, the host, and the audience. She also performed, singing La perla, one of the leading tracks from her album.

Fallon announced that Rosalía would be appearing on his show during a commercial break on the network — and even in the announcement, the audience’s wild screams could be heard. “Welcome back,” said Fallon, who interviewed the singer in 2022, after declaring his love for her and congratulating her on her “record-breaking” album, which hit number four on Billboard — the first time the Spanish singer has reached the chart’s top five. Fallon also read aloud several very positive reviews of the brand-new release, making her blush.

Fallon said was surprised that there was “a lot of classical influence” on Lux. “I had the idea, I was sure about it, and it just took me three years,” acknowledging that she gets nervous not so much when recording or in the studio, but when showing the work to the public. She also said she had played some of the instruments herself, adding that although she played guitar as a child and began learning piano at 16, her “main instrument is the voice.”

The host also highlighted the singer’s ability to clap rhythmic palmas with ease, something that surprised her. Although he tried to produce some sort of sound with his hands — which made her laugh — and then commented, “Well, we’re not going to judge anyone,” she taught him how to tap out rhythms with claps or on the table, which he tried to imitate with little success, as expected. “In Jerez, in Jerez de la Frontera, they do it beautifully. You have to go,” she told him.

“You sing in 13 languages. Thirteen languages! How many languages do you speak?” he asked her. “I speak Catalan, which is my mother’s language, Spanish, and a bit of English,” the artist replied.

When asked why she ventured into so many other languages, she explained that she simply loves learning. She said she enjoys studying different languages and even practices on Duolingo. As she developed the album’s concept, she immersed herself in various cultures and spiritual traditions, researching hagiographies and stories of women from around the world, which she mapped out as part of her process.

She added that the language she chose for each song depended on the story she wanted to tell. She admitted, laughing, that she relied heavily on Google Translate. From there, she would draft about 20 different versions of each verse, send them to a professional translator, receive them back, make adjustments, record them, and then send the recordings out again to have the pronunciation corrected.

Fallon told her that her singing sounded completely genuine and that he had no idea how she managed it. “You want to learn? Some songs are harder than others, but I can teach you.” Rosalía then the host stand up and come close to her because “posture is important.” “We’re going to warm up a little,” she advised him. Then she began doing scales with him and warming up the lips.

The ease with which Rosalía sang, going up and down the scale as if it were simple and natural, looked much more difficult coming from Fallon. And on top of that, she made him sing La perla, one of the main hits from Lux. First, she made him just pronounce the lyrics; then sing them. “Okay, but you have to be looser,” she said, laughing. She had him repeat the chorus three times, the last one with a microphone and with the studio audience fully energized. They had taped that segment at a more reasonable hour, around 4 p.m.

“Your breath smells like garlic”

The conversation lasted about 15 minutes, and was divided into two parts. The first focused more on the interview and their singing together. In this part, Fallon also asked her about her role in the series Euphoria, whose third season is finishing filming and in which she appears as an actress. She did not reveal what her role is: “We cannot say, not yet,” the singer stated, slipping in a few phrases in Spanish: “I had to divide my mind,” she said about the difficulty of juggling both projects, saying it was “very challenging.”

In the second, shorter segment, they played a show game: “Seduction, insult, or nonsense.” She picked a card with a phrase in Spanish, and Fallon had to decide what it was. The first was: “I think you have your toupée on backwards.” She read it in a seductive voice. Fallon had no idea what it meant and even asked her to repeat it. The audience’s laughter made it clear what was going on. He guessed incorrectly: “I’d say seductive.”

The next one was: “I want to make out with you.” She yelled the line at him, and of course, he said, “It’s not seductive. It’s something about my mouth. I’m going to say it’s nonsense.” Wrong again.

And the next one: “Take a handsome scooter to the back of the cactus.” Thanks to her gestures, he realized a scooter wasn’t exactly seductive.

“Your breath smells like garlic,” she said, seductively. “Willy?” he asked — for “huele,” the Spanish word for smell. “You’re being seductive… but it’s not seductive. I’m going to say this is insulting!” he guessed — correctly.

“Give me the peanut butter, I want to dance,” she continued. “It is seductive again?” Wrong.

And the last one: “You’re like a toasted marshmallow cloud, warm and inviting, but I’m afraid I’ll get burned.” Too long for Fallon’s basic Spanish. The audience couldn’t stop laughing, and she tried to quiet them, unable to hide her own smile. “Nonsense!” Wrong again.

To wrap up the show, after another interview with musician DJ Khaled, Rosalía took to the stage to perform. It was nearly 1:30 a.m. Dressed again in white, in a satin and tulle dress, lying down at first and then sitting, she performed La perla. As usually happens on U.S. television and radio, whenever an insult sounds it gets muted, so the word “cabrón” was beeped out.

Rosalía, perched on half a dozen mattresses like the princess in The Princess and the Pea (in fact, she pulled a large pearl from beneath them, like in the classic story), was accompanied by around 20 musicians and backup singers. “And that’s how it’s done!” an impressed Fallon concluded. “Rosalía! Lux is out now!”

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