Diljit Dosanjh Brings Punjabi Flair to ‘The Tonight Show’ with ‘Born To Shine/G.O.A.T.’ Performance

Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh took over American airwaves by performing his songs “Born To Shine” and “G.O.A.T.” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday, Jun. 18, 2024.

Joined by his band, Dosanjh led the two-song set as musical guest on the late-night talk show, which didn’t include much of a conversation, except after the artist’s performance got a standing ovation and kudos from Fallon at the end of the video you can watch below. By way of introducing Dosanjh to his viewers, Fallon prefaced the performance with “You can catch our next guest on his Dil-Luminati World Tour. Making his U.S. T.V. debut, performing ‘Born To Shine’ and ‘G.O.A.T.,’ please welcome the biggest Punjabi artist on the planet, Diljit Dosanjh.”

At the end of the two songs, Fallon greeted Dosanjh – dressed in an all-white ensemble from turban to kurta to lungi with sneakers – on stage. Fallon exclaimed, “Come on! That is how you do it! Thank you so much Diljit Dosanjh. Catch him on tour right now!”

Previously, in a promotional shoot for the appearance on The Tonight Show, Dosanjh was seen prepping for his performance at the NBC Studios in New York. Later, he met with Fallon, swapped gloves and taught him a bit of Punjabi as well.

Dosanjh was appearing on The Tonight Show on the back of the final two shows in North America as part of his Dil-Luminati Tour. He kicked off the Dil-Luminati tour in Vancouver at BC Place stadium, in what played out as a record-setting performance for an Indian artist, filling over 54,000 seats. Dosanjh carried on through Canada and the U.S. in May, and will next perform on Jul. 10 in Los Angeles’ Crypto Arena, followed by a show on Jul. 13 at Toronto’s Rogers Centre.

Announcing his Fallon appearance last week, Dosanjh wrote about his appearance in a way that echoed his salutations when he made his historical debut at Coachella last year. He said on Instagram about Fallon, “Panjabi aagye oyee This week’s guest Bhangra hun mainstream pena Proper Hollywood.” (Punjabis have arrived! This week’s guest, Bhangra is now going mainstream. Proper Hollywood.)

Dosanjh appeared on Fallon on the back of receiving heavy spotlight in the U.S. after Coachella, plus collaborations with artists like Australian pop star Sia (“Hass Hass”), American rappers Saweetie (“Khutti”) and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and NLE Choppa, among others. He told Rolling Stone India in a previous interview, “These songs are all done and they’re going to keep coming out one by one. The first song with Sia is out, ‘Hass Hass,’ the song with Saweetie came next (‘Khutti’) and the one after that is the song with NLE Choppa and then the one with A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie. These are singles and I tried collaborating with all these folks and the songs will keep coming out gradually.”