--- description: Wearing a wacky wig, he performs Neil Young's solo from "Down by the River" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon title: Watch: Bradley Cooper Shows Off Epic Air Guitar Skills on Jimmy Fallon's Show image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Bradley Cooper Show Off His Epic Air Guitar Skills on _The Tonight Show_ by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 6, 2015 3:00 PM CUT by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 6, 2015 3:00 PM CUT The word “epic” gets bandied about a lot on the Internet, whether it’s describing [a prank](http://time.com/3652004/sister-selfie-prank-on-brother/ "undefined") or a [touchdown pass](http://time.com/3651855/ohio-state-runs-past-alabama-in-epic-sugar-bowl/ "undefined") in a football game, or a [battle between good and evil](http://time.com/3654139/husky-and-furby/ "undefined"), but when you watch this video with Bradley Cooper playing air guitar on the _The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon_, future generations will know what epic truly looks like. The producer-film actor-[Broadway star](http://time.com/3631631/elephant-man-broadway-review-bradley-cooper/ "undefined") swung by _The Tonight Show,_ and instead of promoting his Oscar-contender film, [_American Sniper_](http://time.com/3649364/american-sniper-movie-review/ "undefined"), Cooper used the show to promote his incredible air guitar skills. His take on Neil Young’s shredder classic, “Down by the River,” is downright impressive. As Fallon and _Tonight Show_ house band The Roots watch from the sidelines, Cooper takes over the spotlight, rising from his seat as the spirit moves him. His fingers fly over the invisible fretboard, his arms wail on the imaginary guitar and his very real wig bounces in time. It is completely silly and, yes, truly epic. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3655536/bradley-cooper-on-jimmy-fallon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3655536/bradley-cooper-on-jimmy-fallon/"},"headline":"Watch Bradley Cooper Show Off His Epic Air Guitar Skills on The Tonight Show","datePublished":"2015-01-06T15:00:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:15:43.545Z","description":"Wearing a wacky wig, he performs Neil Young's solo from \"Down by the River\" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon","url":"https://time.com/3655536/bradley-cooper-on-jimmy-fallon/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","viral","jimmy fallon","Videos","bradley cooper","The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon","celebrity"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3655536/bradley-cooper-on-jimmy-fallon/","name":"Watch Bradley Cooper Show Off His Epic Air Guitar Skills on The Tonight Show"}}]}] ```