Ne-Yo, Chaka Khan Hit the 7th Annual Roots Jam Session

When it comes to the Roots Jam Sessions, surprise appearances are pretty much expected, but for this year's show, the list of special guests didn't fail to disappoint. For their 7th Annual Roots Jam Session held at the Music Box in Hollywood, Saturday night (Feb. 12), the crew celebrated their six Grammy nominations, jamming well into the early morning hours to a standing room only crowd.

Late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon emceed the event, which started off with performances of the Roots' musical catalog but delightfully transformed into a roll call of music's past, present and future. From new school artists like rapper Blu, who jumped in for his feature on the Roots track 'The Day,' to the likes of Ne-Yo, who sang his single 'Champagne Life,' and Melanie Fiona who hyped the female audience members with her single 'Give It To Me Right.'

Perhaps the sweetest of all surprises were the old-school legends including Chuck Brown who treated the crowd to his classic 'Busting Loose,' while Betty Wright hit the stage for 'Tonight Is the Night,' and Chaka Khan who performed 'Tell Me Something Good,' the Philly based crew lived up to their legendary status acting as the musical addendum to every guest taking the stage. Closing out the show was Doug E. Fresh. "How far do you wanna go?" he asked the crowd before beginning his beat boxing session and segueing into his hits including 'La Di Da Di' and 'I-ight.'

This year's session coincided with the organization, Opportunity Nation, which works to educate the public on economic mobility. The following night at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards the Roots won three of their six Grammy nominations for their collaboration with John Legend, 'Wake Up!.'