It finally happened. After years and years of being mistaken for one another and one formal challenge, doppelgangers Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and Will Ferrell finally faced off. In a drum battle. And there was cowbell, too.
It all went down for charity's sake ($300K was raised on behalf of Cancer for College) on last night's episode of The Tonight Show where host Jimmy Fallon officiated a competition that was naturally restricted to the "traditional rules" of drum offs, allowing Smith, 52, and Ferrell, 46, to each rattle off four drum solos in the hopes of being crowned champion.
Consequence of Sound points out that Chad Smith actually played all of Will Ferrell's parts (explaining the liberal camera angles), but the whole damn thing is the most hilarious piece of television we've seen all week because of the pair's almost freaky resemblance to each other, Smith's refreshingly amusing posturing, and Ferrell's use of the cowbell, which eventually led to the rest of the Red Hot Chili Peppers joining everyone on stage for a few bars of Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." The band ended up playing "Give It Away" with The Roots and Funkadelic's "Standing On the Verge of Getting It On" in the next segment (their first late night appearance in eight years), but Smith and Ferrell definitely owned the night.
Have a look at it below, and watch the boys' interview regarding their rivalry here. Video from RHCP's performance isn't available yet, but you can keep checking this link for it to go online.
This article appears in May 22-28, 2014.