Music

Kim Gordon Performs "Play Me" on The Tonight Show

Former Sonic Youth member Kim Gordon appeared on The Tonight Show to perform "Play Me" from her third solo album, released in March.

Rolling Stone·Jun 18, 2026·via Rolling Stone

Kim Gordon Performs "Play Me" on The Tonight Show

Late-Night TV

Watch Kim Gordon Showcase ‘Play Me’ on ‘Fallon’

The former Sonic Youth musician released her third solo album in March

By Emily Zemler

Emily Zemler

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June 18, 2026

Kim Gordon stopped by The Tonight Show to perform her recent song “Play Me.” The musician, clad in a Knicks jersey, took the late-night stage alongside her band to showcase the blues-y rock tune, off her recent album of the same name.

Play Me , released in March, is the former Sonic Youth member’s third solo album . For the LP, Gordon teamed up again with Justin Raisen, who collaborated with her on her past two solo efforts. Her goal with the record was for it to be “more beat oriented than the last one.”

“I have to say, the thing that influenced me most was the news,” Gordon said of the new album’s lyrics. “We are in some kind of ‘post empire’ now, where people just disappear.”

“I don’t have the kind of voice to be a singer -singer, and I get really inspired by rhythm and beats,” Gordon told Rolling Stone of making the album. “Occasionally a melody will pop out of somewhere accidentally, but this kind of vocal just feels most natural for me.”