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Adam Sandler said he once performed music on the streets of New York City after he was fired from three jobs
Sandler, who described playing music as his first real interest as a kid, has frequently incorporated singing and guitar into his comedy
The Jay Kelly actor received an award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' annual meeting on Feb. 12
Adam Sandleris reflecting on his first love — music — and his trials and tribulations playing guitar around New York City as a college student.
The actor, 59, accepted an award at the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' annual meeting at Los Angeles' Skirball Cultural Center on Thursday, Feb. 12.
"Music's the best. Its always been there for me," Sandler said in his remarks at the event. "When I went to [New York University] my father told me, I said, 'I kind of want to stay in New York this summer between freshman and sophomore year.' And I was doing standup, and he said, 'You've got to get a job.' "
"So I got three different jobs. I got fired. Fired from two restaurants and a pharmacy," theHappy Gilmorestar added. "They were all like, 'You're not good working.' So I told my dad, 'I keep getting fired.' And he was like, 'You got to make money, bud.' And so I said, 'Yeah, I was thinking maybe I'll sing in the subway.' So I used to sing in the subways. Anybody else ever sing in the subways? I did that. It was always nerve-racking, right?"
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Though Sandler is best known for his comedic acting performances, he is a guitarist and songwriter who has incorporated music into his comedy dating back to "The Thanksgiving Song" and "The Chanukah Song" from his run onSaturday Night Livein the 1990s.
"You take your guitar case, open it. This was before they assigned places," he added of his experience busking in New York. "I used to randomly just go to different spots and play guitar, but I used to play 'We've Only Just Begun' [by the Carpenters] on guitar. Sing that all the time. Always a show-stopper. Always changed everybody's mood."
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Sandler most recently appeared inJay KellyandHappy Gilmore 2. He received nominations for his performance inJay Kellyat theCritics Choice AwardsandGolden Globe Awardsin January.
Sandler admitted at the event that he "wanted to be" a musician first and foremost as a child and reflected on playing in a band with a friend in middle school.
"I was the guitar player, he was the drummer, and we were called Still Young. We were both 12 and all we could play was 'House of the Rising Sun,' " he recalled. "We played that over and over, and music was always deep in me. My father used to jam in the bedroom, he'd play on the guitar all the time and he'd kind of taught me my chords and I always got into it."
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