What the Hell Happened to Me?

What the Hell Happened to Me? is the second studio album by Adam Sandler, released by Warner Bros. on 13 February 1996.[1] It contains the official recording of "The Chanukah Song" (recorded live at University of California, Santa Barbara), which has become a holiday staple and one of Sandler's best-known works. It reached No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #25 on the US Modern Rock charts. It spent 57 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and peaked at No. 18.[2] It has been certified double-platinum, and as of 2011, has sold over 2,124,000 copies in the US, making it the best-selling comedy album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.[3] The "Excited Southerner" skits on the album are early versions of what would end up being Sandler's character 'Bobby Boucher' in 1998's The Waterboy.

What the Hell Happened to Me?
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 13, 1996
GenreComedy
Length74:51
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerAdam Sandler
Adam Sandler chronology
They're All Gonna Laugh at You!
(1993)
What the Hell Happened to Me?
(1996)
What's Your Name?
(1997)

Sandler went on a 21-day US tour to support the album,[4] complete with a live backing band, including guitarist Waddy Wachtel. The live performance from June 29, 1996, in the style of a rock concert, was aired as an hour long special on HBO, complete with covers of Foghat's "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and Bruce Springsteen's "Out in the Street", as well as a previously unreleased Halloween song, with a special appearance from fellow Saturday Night Live alum Chris Farley, as well as songs from Sandler's tenure at SNL, and cuts from the album and Sandler's first album, They're All Gonna Laugh at You!.[5] The concert has since been uploaded to YouTube, where it has received 156 million views since March 2017. The success of the tour and HBO special also led to Sandler's next album, the mostly-songs What's Your Name?, in 1997.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."Joining the Cult"2:52
2."Respect"4:34
3."Ode to My Car"3:55
4."The Excited Southerner Orders a Meal"0:45
5."The Goat"8:51
6."The Chanukah Song"3:44
7."The Excited Southerner Gets Pulled Over"1:04
8."The Hypnotist"8:02
9."Steve Polychronopolous"3:11
10."The Excited Southerner at a Job Interview"1:10
11."Do It for Your Mama"5:23
12."Crazy Love"3:56
13."The Excited Southerner Meets Mel Gibson"1:08
14."The Adventures of the Cow"5:04
15."Dip Doodle"3:48
16."The Excited Southerner Proposes to a Woman"1:03
17."Memory Lane"2:43
18."Mr. Bake-O"4:06
19."Sex or Weight Lifting"7:06
20."What the Hell Happened to Me?"2:26
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Charts

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Songs chart positions

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Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications
Hot 100
[10]
Adult Pop
[11]
"The Chanukah Song" 1996 80 28

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[13] Platinum 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[14] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "Allmusic.com - What The Hell Happened to Me?". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  2. ^ "BIllboard.com - What the Hell Happened to Me?". Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  3. ^ "Week Ending May 22, 2011. Albums: 21 = 9 + 16 - Chart Watch". Archived from the original on 2011-05-29.
  4. ^ "Adam Sandler at Encyclopedia.com (Google cache)". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ Gotz, Stu. "Concert Review from June 29, 1996". Entertainment Ave. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  6. ^ "Adam Sandler Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  7. ^ "Adam Sandler Chart History (Top Catalog Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  8. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2911". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  9. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1996". Billboard. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  10. ^ "Adam Sandler Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  11. ^ "Adam Sandler Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  12. ^ "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America.
  13. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Adam Sandler – What the Hell Happened to Me?". Music Canada.
  14. ^ "American album certifications – Adam Sandler – What the Hell Happened to Me?". Recording Industry Association of America.