“Wait… Is That Espresso?” Jimmy Fallon Froze as Keith Urban Plucked the First Note

The Night a Banjo Broke the Internet: Keith Urban Turns Sabrina Carpenter Hit Into Something No One Saw Coming

Wearing worn-out jeans and a grin that said “just trust me”, Keith Urban sat under the studio lights with nothing but a banjo in hand.
The crowd laughed—until he started playing.
What was once Sabrina Carpenter’s sun-soaked summer anthem suddenly became a bluegrass storm, wild and hypnotic.
Fallon didn’t even blink. And when it ended, there was only one word:
“Legend.”

👉 And yep, Sabrina reacted. You’ll want to see what she said.

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Keith Urban Just Played Jimmy Fallon an Amazing Banjo Cover of “Espresso”

The “CHUCK TAYLORS” singer turned Sabrina Carpenter’s sunny beach pop into a bluegrass bop.

eith Urban is working late (night) because he’s a singer.

Watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC weeknights at 11:35/10:35c and next day on Peacock.

Sabrina Carpenter’s hit song, “Espresso” was an inescapable earworm in the summer of 2024 — and even Keith Urban fell under its spell. The “Wildside” singer stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on September 24 to celebrate the release of his latest album, High, by performing his new track “Chuck Taylors.” During his interview Jimmy Fallon, Urban also delivered a surprise cover of Carpenter’s catchy tune.

Fallon praised Urban for his incredible live shows, mentioning that the Australian country singer and former The Voice Mega Mentor is known for both playing his own string of original hits and songs by other popular artists such as Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift.

Keith Urban plays banjo during his interview with host Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Season 12 Episode 2 on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.

Photo: Todd Owyoung/NBC

Keith Urban’s banjo version of “Espresso” slays

When The Tonight Show Host asked him how he goes about choosing which songs to cover, Urban simply said it just has to be a “well-written song,” pointing to Swift’s catalog as a prime example.

“Taylor’s songs are all well-written. The bones are good, every one of them, and so you can do them in any form,” he explained. “You can do any well-written song in almost any style.”

When Fallon brought up “Espresso,” Urban said, “You could do it on banjo or something. You can just mess around with stuff like that.”

Good thing Fallon just *happened* to have a banjo behind his desk, which he handed to Urban, who seemed genuinely surprised by the reveal.

Urban didn’t waste any time. He quickly started plucking the strings and singing, transforming Carpenter’s slice of sunny beach pop into a bluegrass bop.

Urban even changed the lyrics, singing, “I’m workin late because I’m a banjo player / I can’t relate to people who love Slayer” — a callback to earlier in the interview when he talked about going through a metal music phase when he was younger.

In May 2024, Urban posted a video online of him covering “We Can’t Be Friends” by Ariana Grande, later telling People about his love for the Eternal Sunshine track.

“I don’t know what is going on with that song, but I cannot stop playing it. It’s like audible heroin,” he told People. “Literally, I have to have another hit. I play that thing over and over and over.”

Watch Urban’s must-hear banjo cover of “Espresso” in the video above.