NBC Insider Exclusive

Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!

Sign Up For Free to View
NBC Insider The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Ice T’s Voice Is Rock & Roll Dynamite Covering a Pink Floyd Classic with Body Count

The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star got David Gilmour and Roger Waters' rare blessing to cover "Comfortably Numb."

By Christopher Rudolph
Body Count: Comfortably Numb
Video thumbnail
Now Playing
4:29
Highlight
Body Count: Comfortably Numb
Video thumbnail
41:23
Web Exclusive
WWE Superstars Dwayne Johnson, Roman Reigns, John Cena, Cody Rhodes & More Talk WWE and WrestleMania
Video thumbnail
21:59
Web Exclusive
Tom Cruise Shows Insane Upside Down Plane Stunt, Talks The Weeknd Lip Sync & Plays What's Behind Me?
Video thumbnail
23:14
Web Exclusive
Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Young Mazino and Isabela Merced Talk The Last of Us Season 2 Ending
Video thumbnail
7:40
Highlight
Trick or Seat with Shaquille O'Neal
Video thumbnail
11:48
Highlight
Shaquille O'Neal Lies to Jimmy About His Abrupt Exit on Live TV; Talks Docuseries Power Moves
Video thumbnail
0:53
Highlight
Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, Tom Cruise and Cast Sing the Mission: Impossible Theme Song A Cappella
Video thumbnail
7:22
Highlight
Trump Blurs Lines by Hosting Private Dinner for Top Meme Coin Holders
Video thumbnail
4:22
Highlight
Dasha: Not At This Party
Video thumbnail
7:36
Highlight
Hayley Atwell Filmed a Mission: Impossible Fight Scene While Eight Months Pregnant (Extended)
Video thumbnail
0:38
Web Exclusive
Jimmy Helps Jin with His "Don't Say You Love Me" Music Video
Video thumbnail
7:27
Highlight
Pom Klementieff Was Gifted Skydiving Lessons from Tom Cruise After Mission: Impossible (Extended)
Video thumbnail
5:14
Highlight
This But That: Mission: Impossible and Easy Mode, The Tonight Show and News
Video thumbnail
3:25
Highlight
Jin: Don't Say You Love Me
Video thumbnail
11:45
Highlight
Trump Confronts South Africa's President, Pentagon Accepts Qatar's $400 Million Plane Bribe
Video thumbnail
5:15
Highlight
Ana de Armas Talks Training to Fight Keanu Reeves in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina
Video thumbnail
4:17
Highlight
Whisper Challenge with Ana de Armas
Video thumbnail
8:15
Highlight
Jin Talks BTS Reunion in June, First Solo Tour and Echo; Takes Over The Tonight Show Desk

Ice T and Body Count have debuted a bold new take on a Pink Floyd classic.

How to Watch

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

The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star and Body Count frontman brought his heavy metal band to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on December 4 to cover "Comfortably Numb," the single from Pink Floyd's seminal 1979 album, The Wall.

RELATED: Ice T Reveals a Golden Rule That Keeps Him & Wife Coco From Arguing: “We Just…"

Body Count's "Comfortably Numb" cover not only featured a harder rock sound, it includes new lyrics written by Ice T.

It was the rapper and actor's new verses that led to the original Pink Floyd members giving their blessing to the new version.

Before his performance with Body Count, Ice T sat down with Jimmy Fallon to talk about how his "Comfortably Numb" happened.

"'Comfortably Numb,' which is a classic Pink Floyd song, and you got a collab with David Gilmour. Pink Floyd said yes to you — they don't say yes to anyone," Fallon told Ice T. "Not only David Gilmour, but David Gilmour and Roger Waters, who haven't agreed on anything in 20 years."

The Host asked Ice T how he managed to get permission from Gilmour and Waters — and even got Gilmour involved.

Body Count performs onstage on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Episode 2063.

How Ice T got Pink Floyd's approval for Body Count's "Comfortably Numb" cover

"Well, rappers always listen to music for tracks they could rap over, breakbeats, things like that, and I always liked the bassline to 'Comfortably Numb.' I wanted to rap on it," Ice T answered.

"Then I said, 'Well, let's just do it with Body Count,' right? So I do it, I write the lyrics to it, we lay it out, and then I just don't think about the politics.

"So they go, 'Okay, you got to send this to Pink Floyd to get it approved,' and everybody's like, 'That's not going to happen.' So we send it to the publishers and they said, 'No, Pink Floyd doesn't allow samples or covers,' so it was dead in the water," Ice T continued.

"I was ready to trash the song, and then my manager somehow got to David Gilmour's manager, and David heard the record and was blown away just by the lyrics, 'cause it's his music, but it was the lyrics," Ice T continued.

RELATED: David Gilmour Addresses Syncing Pink Floyd's Album with The Wizard of Oz

"He said, 'I totally approve it.' So then they go, 'Okay, we got to get Roger Waters.' Now, I don't know what's going on with them," he told Fallon. "I mean, I don't know. So Roger Waters listens to it, and he said, 'Well, who's singing?' They said, 'Ice T.' He approved it."

"So now you've got two people on opposite sides that approved the song, which made me feel really good," he said. "'Cause that means that the song is honest and real." 

Gilmour did more than lend his stamp of approval to the cover — he also asked to play guitar on the track, and even appears in the music video. The power of Ice T!

Watch Ice T and Body Count's powerful performance of "Comfortably Numb" in dynamic Tonight Show video above.

RELATED: Stevie Nicks Talks Her "Love Affair" with Lindsey Buckingham in This Unearthed Clip

What inspired Body Count's new album, Merciless

Body Count's latest album, Merciless, was released on November 22, and it was declared by Metal Hammer to be an "ice-cold knock-out."

It was the politically-turbulent year of 2020 that inspired Ice T to write the album, as he told Jimmy Fallon during his Tonight Show visit on December 4.

RELATED: All the Moving Details From Ice T & Coco's Wedding Ceremonies (Yes, Plural)

"I'm looking at horror movies back to back during COVID. I'm looking at all this madness, all this politics stuff, and I just start writing and writing," he recalled. "And then I just said, 'You know what? Who knows if this is my last album? I'm gonna get everything off my chest,' and it came out good."