Editing Paul Shaffer (section)

==Career==
===''Godspell'' to ''Saturday Night Live''===
Shaffer began his music career in 1972 when [[Stephen Schwartz (composer)|Stephen Schwartz]] invited him to be the musical director for the Toronto production of ''[[Godspell]]'',<ref name=cm/> starring [[Victor Garber]], [[Gilda Radner]], [[Martin Short]], [[Eugene Levy]], [[Dave Thomas (actor)|Dave Thomas]], and [[Andrea Martin]]. He went on to play piano for the Schwartz [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] show ''[[The Magic Show]]'' in 1974, then became a member of the house band on [[NBC]]'s ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' (''SNL'') television program from 1975 to 1980 (except for a brief departure in 1977). Though Shaffer was at the piano and appeared to be directing the band's actions,{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} [[Howard Shore]] was credited as ''SNL'''s musical director, eventually turning the actual conducting of the band to [[Howard Johnson (jazz musician)|Howard Johnson]]. Shaffer also regularly appeared in the show's sketches, notably as the pianist for [[Bill Murray]]'s Nick the Lounge Singer character, and as [[Don Kirshner]].<ref name=nytimes2019-12-14/> He also appeared as a keyboardist on the 1978 album ''[[Desire Wire]]'', recorded by pop/rock star, musician, and backing vocalist [[Cindy Bullens]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zuanich |first=Barbara |date=1980-01-10 |title=Saturday Night's Live Band |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/bonners-ferry-herald-saturday-nights-li/171529957/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |work=Bonners Ferry Herald |pages=64}}</ref>

Shaffer occasionally teamed up with the [[Not Ready for Prime-Time Players]] off the show, as well, including work on Gilda Radner's highly successful Broadway show and as the musical director for [[John Belushi]] and [[Dan Aykroyd]] whenever they recorded or performed as [[the Blues Brothers]]. Shaffer was to appear in the duo's [[The Blues Brothers (film)|1980 film]], but as he revealed in October 2009 on ''[[CBS Sunday Morning]]'', Belushi dropped him from the project. In a memo to fellow ''SNL'' colleagues, Belushi said that he was unhappy that Shaffer was spending so much time on a studio record for Radner. Belushi said that he had tried to talk Shaffer out of working on the album in the first place to avoid sharing Shaffer's talents with another ''SNL''-related project.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paul-shaffers-showbiz-journey/ |title=Paul Shaffer's Showbiz Journey |first=Anthony |last=Mason |work=CBS News |date=October 4, 2009}}</ref> Shaffer later reported that he was in (unrequited) love with Radner.<ref>{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Posner|title=Paul Talk|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=October 17, 2009}}</ref> He went on to appear in 1998's ''[[Blues Brothers 2000]]''.

In 1977, Shaffer played on the Mark & Clark Band's hit song "[[Worn Down Piano]]".{{Citation needed|date=October 2017}}

Shaffer left ''SNL'' in 1977 for a few months to co-star with [[Greg Evigan]] in ''[[A Year at the Top]]'', a short-lived CBS sitcom in which Shaffer and Evigan play two musicians from [[Idaho]] who relocate to Hollywood, where they are regularly tempted by a famous promoter (who is actually the devil's son), played by [[Gabriel Dell]], to sell their souls in exchange for a year of stardom. Though the series only lasted a few episodes, a soundtrack album was released.

Following the series' cancellation, Shaffer returned to ''SNL'' during the show's [[Saturday Night Live season 3|third season]] during the 1977-78 season. He was named a cast member during the [[Saturday Night Live season 5|1979-80]] season, as a featured player. Making him the first and only band member to join the cast.<ref name="S05E5">{{cite episode|title=Bea Arthur/The Roches|series=Saturday Night Live|season=5|number=5|network=NBC|date=November 17, 1979|time=Opening credits}}</ref> In the spring of 1980, Shaffer became the first person to say "fuck" on ''SNL''.<ref>Shales, Tom; Miller, James Andrew (2002). ''Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live''. United States: Hachette Book Group USA. {{ISBN|0-316-73565-5}}.</ref> That year, ''SNL'' parodied ''[[The Troggs Tapes]]'' with a medieval musical sketch featuring Shaffer, Bill Murray, Harry Shearer, and a "special guest appearance" by John Belushi (who had left the show the previous year). In the middle of a long tirade that featured repeated use of the word "flogging", Shaffer inadvertently uttered the forbidden word. It not only escaped the censors in the live broadcast and the West Coast taped airing, but also reappeared in the summer rerun, and even in the syndicated versions of the show for several years. Shaffer, at Letterman's urging, related the story on the first episode of ''Late Night''.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

Shaffer, along with executive producer [[Lorne Michaels]], the entire cast, most of the writing staff, and several other band mates, left the show at the end of the season, after five years. Decades after leaving the show, Shaffer recounted that [[Jean Doumanian]] (who was taking over as producer the [[Saturday Night Live season 6|next season]]) offered him to be the new musical-director in light of [[Howard Shore]] leaving, but he turned it down. Citing in part that he didn't want to start the show again with a brand new cast, and he felt five years was enough time to do the show.<ref>{{cite news|title=Paul Shaffer - Archive Interview Part 3 of 4|date=December 17, 2009|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsm25HzHW3Q&t=790s|accessdate=December 22, 2024}}</ref>

In February 2015, Shaffer appeared on the 40th-anniversary special of ''SNL'', playing music to Bill Murray's lounge-singer character, a love song from the movie ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]''.

===Collaboration with David Letterman===
Beginning in 1982, Shaffer served as musical director for David Letterman's late night talk shows: as leader of [[Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band|"The World's Most Dangerous Band"]] for ''Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1993) on NBC, for which he also composed the theme song, and as leader of the [[CBS Orchestra]] for the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' (1993–2015) on [[CBS]]. Letterman consistently maintained that the show's switch to CBS was because NBC "caught Paul stealing pens" or some other trivial reason. Shaffer guest-hosted the show four times when Letterman was unavailable: February 9 and 11, 2000, during Letterman's recovery from his quintuple [[heart bypass surgery]]; March 24, 2003, when Letterman was suffering from [[shingles]]; and January 19, 2005, when Letterman went to receive an award for his [[Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing|racing team]]'s victory in the [[2004 Indianapolis 500]].

Shaffer wrote and performs the bridging music on Letterman's [[Netflix]] series ''[[My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman]]'' which premiered in 2018.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Stuever|first1=Hank|title=Review: Letterman sits down with Obama, but both men seem rusty and off their game|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/letterman-sits-down-with-obama-but-both-men-seem-rusty-and-off-their-game/2018/01/11/2b6dc8c0-f70c-11e7-a9e3-ab18ce41436a_story.html|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=January 13, 2018|date=January 12, 2018}}</ref> After Netflix announced publicly that it had given the series an order, Shaffer received a phone call from Letterman asking him to work on the show. Soon after, Shaffer began to receive cuts of episodes from the first season and he started to put music in afterwards where the director thought it was needed. In developing the sound of the show's music, Shaffer initially looked to Letterman for guidance. Finding none, he remembered his and Letterman's shared love for the sort of music produced at the [[Muscle Shoals Sound Studio]] in [[Sheffield, Alabama]], describing it as "the honesty you hear, the southern soul feeling". The score initially included drums, but the show's producers and director thought that the music should "feel like it's Dave's old friend Paul playing," so it was ultimately stripped down to solely include piano and organ.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Leight|first1=Elias|title=Paul Shaffer on Writing Letterman's Netflix Theme Song & the Value of Humor in Pop|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8097779/paul-shaffer-letterman-netflix-interview|magazine=Billboard|access-date=February 9, 2018|date=February 2, 2018}}</ref>

===Musical collaboration===
Shaffer recorded the synthesizer solo in the 1982 song "[[Goodbye to You (Scandal song)|Goodbye to You]]" by the band [[Scandal (American band)|Scandal]]. He used his [[Oberheim OB-Xa]] to emulate a 1960s organ sound.<ref>{{cite news|first=Mitchell|last=Sigman|title=Scandal's "Goodbye to You" Solo|newspaper=Keyboard Magazine|page=44|date=March 2010}}</ref>

In 1984, Shaffer played keyboards for [[The Honeydrippers]], a group formed in 1981 by former [[Led Zeppelin]] frontman [[Robert Plant]], on their only studio album, ''[[The Honeydrippers: Volume One]]''. The album included the hit single "[[Sea of Love (Phil Phillips song)|Sea of Love]]" which reached number one on ''Billboard'''s adult contemporary chart in 1984 and number three on its Hot 100 chart in 1985.<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000650260|label=The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1|tab=credits}}</ref>

He released two solo albums, 1989's ''Coast to Coast'', and 1993's ''[[The World's Most Dangerous Party]]'', produced by rock musician [[Todd Rundgren]]. Shaffer has also recorded with a wide range of artists, including [[Donald Fagen]], [[Ronnie Wood]], [[Grand Funk Railroad]], [[Diana Ross]], [[B.B. King]], [[Asleep at the Wheel]], [[Cyndi Lauper]], [[Carl Perkins]], [[Yoko Ono]], [[Blues Traveler]], [[Jeff Healey]], [[Cher]], [[Barry Manilow]], [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]], [[Luba (singer)|Luba]], [[Robert Burns]], [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]], [[Bootsy Collins]], [[Nina Hagen]], [[Robert Plant]], [[Peter Criss]], [[Scandal (American band)|Scandal]], [[Brian Wilson]], ''Late Show'' regular [[Warren Zevon]], jazz trumpeters [[Miles Davis]] and [[Lew Soloff]], jazz saxophonist [[Lou Marini]], and bluegrass legend [[Earl Scruggs]]. In 1982, he co-wrote "[[It's Raining Men]]" with [[Paul Jabara]]. It was number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play charts, a number-two hit in the UK for [[The Weather Girls]] in 1984, and a UK number-one remake for [[Geri Halliwell]] in 2001. Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band performed the [[Chuck Berry]] song "[[Roll Over Beethoven]]" for the 1992 film [[Beethoven (film)|''Beethoven'']].

Shaffer has served as musical director and producer for the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] induction ceremony since its inception in 1986 and filled the same role for the [[1996 Olympic Games]] closing ceremonies from Atlanta, Georgia. Shaffer also served as musical director for ''[[Fats Domino]] and Friends'', a Cinemax special that included [[Ray Charles]], [[Jerry Lee Lewis]], and [[Ron Wood]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theworldsmostdangerousband.com/bio_paul.html|title=Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band-Biography|website=Theworldsmostdangerousband.com|access-date=2018-02-06}}</ref>

Shaffer has hosted [[Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum]] induction concert and ceremonies.

In 2017, Shaffer reunited with his band, resuming its previous name, and recorded the self-titled album ''Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band''. Shaffer and the band released their album in March and then went on tour, as well, as making appearances on both ''[[Jimmy Kimmel Live]]'' and ''[[The Late Show with Stephen Colbert]]'', for which Shaffer and the band returned to the [[Ed Sullivan Theater]] for the first time since Letterman's finale two years earlier.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/arts/music/paul-shaffer-david-letterman-bill-murray-album.html?nytmobile=0|title=Paul Shaffer Shakes Off His Post-''Letterman'' Blues|work=The New York Times|first=Dave|last=Itzkoff|date=March 8, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://media.rhino.com/press-release/paul-shaffer-worlds-most-dangerous-band-new-album-available-march-17|title=Paul Shaffer & The World's Most Dangerous Band New Album Available March 17 &#124; Rhino Media|website=media.rhino.com|date=March 17, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/watch-paul-shaffers-uproarious-return-to-late-night-w488761|title=Watch Paul Shaffer's Uproarious Return to 'Late Night'|first=Jon|last=Blistein|date=June 20, 2017|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=August 15, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stereogum.com/1930246/paul-shaffer-perform-with-jenny-lewis-and-shaggy-on-kimmel/video/|title=Watch Paul Shaffer Perform With Jenny Lewis And Shaggy On Kimmel|date=March 16, 2017|website=Stereogum.com|access-date=August 15, 2018}}</ref> In 2023, the band returned to [[30 Rockefeller Plaza]] to act as the house band for one episode of ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon]]'' while the regular band, [[The Roots]], prepared for the [[65th Annual Grammy Awards]] in Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Greene |first=Andy |date=2023-01-30 |title=Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band to Sub for The Roots on 'Jimmy Fallon' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/paul-shaffer-sub-for-the-roots-jimmy-fallon-1234670522/ |access-date=2023-02-04 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> They returned to the ''Tonight Show'' for a week in February 2025 when The Roots took a week off to rehearse for ''Saturday Night Live'''s 50th anniversary special.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=David Letterman Surprises Jimmy Fallon as Paul Shaffer Takes Over 'The Tonight Show' |url=https://www.billboard.com/culture/tv-film/david-letterman-jimmy-fallon-paul-shaffer-tonight-show-1235898330/ |access-date=February 11, 2025 |magazine=Billboard |date=February 11, 2025}}</ref> Shaffer would also revisit Studio 6A, where ''Late Night'' had been taped, in 2023 to perform a cover of [[Patti LaBelle]]’s “[[New Attitude (song)|New Attitude]]” with [[Kelly Clarkson]] for her [[The Kelly Clarkson Show|eponymous talk show]]. <ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/kelly-clarkson-covers-attitude-patti-210000090.html|title= Kelly Clarkson Covers 'New Attitude' By Patti LaBelle ft. Paul Shaffer - Kellyoke |date=October 18, 2023|website=Yahoo! Entertainment|access-date=April 5, 2025}}</ref>

===Movie and documentary appearances===
Shaffer has appeared in a number of motion pictures over the years, including a small role (Artie Fufkin of Polymer Records) in [[Rob Reiner]]'s ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]],'' ''Blues Brothers 2000'', a scene with [[Miles Davis]] in the [[Bill Murray]] film ''[[Scrooged]]'', and as a passenger in [[John Travolta]]'s taxicab in ''[[Look Who's Talking Too]]''. In addition, Shaffer lent his voice to [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney's]] animated feature and television series ''[[Hercules (1997 film)|Hercules]]'' as the character [[Hermes]].<ref name="IMDbHerc">{{cite web |title=Hercules (1997) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119282/reference |publisher=IMDb|access-date=20 June 2018 |language=en }}</ref> <!--fragment - what?  and his cameo appearance on Blues Traveler's hit song "Hook" from the bands album Four in 1994. -->

Shaffer appeared in Greg Zola's documentary about Sly Stone, ''[[Small Talk About Sly]]'' which was completed sometime prior to 2017.<ref>''Groove Theory, The Blues Foundation of Funk'', By Tony Bolden · 2020 - {{ISBN|9781496830630}} - [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Groove_Theory/EZQAEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%E2%80%9CSmall+Talk+About+Sly%22&pg=PA243&printsec=frontcover Page 243 NOTES, 32. Paul Shaffer, qtd in ''Small Talk about SLY" Sly and the Family Stone Documentary'']</ref><ref>Under The Radar Films channel, Jan 2, 2017 - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yuv1cpK6SY “Small Talk About Sly documentary” by Greg Zola (part 37) Paul Shaffer - Sly stone epic story]</ref>

He is portrayed by [[Aaron Lustig]] in the 1996 telefilm ''[[The Late Shift (film)|The Late Shift]]'' and by [[Paul Rust]] in the 2024 theatrical release ''[[Saturday Night (2024 film)|Saturday Night]]''.

===Other television and radio appearances===
He hosted ''[[Happy New Year, America]]'' in 1994 on CBS.<ref>{{cite web|title=Happy New Year America 1994|publisher=The Turner Classic Movies|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/466542/happy-new-year-america|access-date=July 5, 2014}}</ref>

Shaffer was considered for the role of [[George Costanza]] in ''[[Seinfeld]]'', but never returned the call from [[Jerry Seinfeld]] that offered him the role.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20100302tvguide01|title=Breaking News - TV Guide Network's "25 Biggest TV Blunders" Special Delivers 3.3 Million Viewers and Becomes #1 Rated Special Among Women 25-54|website=Thefutoncritic.com|access-date=August 15, 2018}}</ref>
In 2001, Shaffer hosted the [[VH1]] game show ''Cover Wars'' with DJ/model Sky Nellor. The show featured [[cover band]]s competing for the ultimate series win. Each week, Shaffer signed off with, "Just because you're in a cover band, it doesn't mean you're not a star." The show lasted 13 episodes and featured celebrity judges including [[Kevin Bacon]], [[Nile Rodgers]], Cyndi Lauper, and [[Ace Frehley]].

Shaffer served as musical director for 2001's ''[[The Concert for New York City]]'', and accompanied [[Adam Sandler]]'s "[[Opera Man]]" sketch and the [[Backstreet Boys]]' "[[Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)]]".

In 2002, he hosted the infamous Friars Club Roast of [[Chevy Chase]] on [[Comedy Central]] in which the presenters' insults directed at the comedian were so vicious, Shaffer reportedly had to console him afterwards.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Meanest Roast |work=Slate |first=Virginia |last=Heffernan |author-link=Virginia Heffernan |date=December 2, 2002 |url=https://slate.com/culture/2002/12/chevy-chase-humiliated-again.html |access-date=April 17, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Roast of Chevy Chase Ruined the United States of America |work=RIYL |first=Joe |last=McAdam |date=November 30, 2021 |url=https://riylmag.com/the-roast-of-chevy-chase-ruined-the-united-states-of-america/ |access-date=April 17, 2022}}</ref>

Shaffer hosts the 60-second radio vignettes called "Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.paulshaffersdayinrock.com/ |title=Welcome to the show |year=2012 |website=Paulshaffersdayinrock.com |access-date=September 9, 2012 }}</ref> These audio shorts were first produced for Envision Radio Networks and debuted in 2007 on New York station [[WAXQ-FM]].<ref>{{cite web|title=WHTZ asks schools to help in CD drive |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-144638120.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613113200/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-144638120.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 13, 2013 |author=Raymond A. Edel |publisher=[[The Record (Bergen County)|The Record]] |access-date=September 9, 2012|date=October 5, 2007|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref>

In 2008, Shaffer made a cameo appearance at the beginning of the ''[[Law & Order: Criminal Intent]]'' season-seven episode "[[Vanishing Act (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)|Vanishing Act]]".

In February 2013, he appeared in an episode of the sitcom ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' titled "[[P.S. I Love You (How I Met Your Mother)|P.S. I Love You]]", in which the character of Robin ([[Cobie Smulders]]) is revealed to have been obsessed with him. The letters "P.S." in the episode title refer to Paul Shaffer.

Shaffer was the musical director for ''[[A Very Murray Christmas]]'', a 2015 Netflix variety special starring Bill Murray in which Shaffer also appears and performs extensively.<ref>{{cite news |title=Paul Shaffer praises Miley Cyrus for her work in ''A Very Murray Christmas'' |newspaper=Toronto Sun |first=Bill |last=Harris |date=December 1, 2015 |url=https://torontosun.com/2015/12/01/paul-shaffer-praises-miley-cyrus-for-her-work-in-a-very-murray-christmas |access-date=December 6, 2015}}</ref>

In October 2017, Shaffer returned to the late-night stage to perform with the band on ''[[Jimmy Kimmel Live!]]''<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/watch-david-letterman-return-to-late-night-tv-on-kimmel-w509495 |title=Watch David Letterman Return to Late Night TV on 'Kimmel' |magazine=Rolling Stone |first=Daniel |last=Kreps |date=October 18, 2017 |access-date=2017-10-23}}</ref>

In December 2018, he made a cameo appearance in an episode of the Canadian sitcom ''[[Schitt's Creek]],'' during which he played the piano at a Christmas party. The episode, titled "[[List of Schitt's Creek episodes|Merry Christmas, Johnny Rose]]," also reunited him with his former ''[[Godspell]]'' colleague [[Eugene Levy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/comedy/schitt-s-creek-holiday-special-easter-eggs-to-look-for-1.4952888|title=Schitt's Creek holiday-special easter eggs to look for|date=2018-12-20|website=CBC Comedy|access-date=2019-11-29}}</ref>

Shaffer competed on the [[The Masked Singer (American TV series) season 2|second season]] of the TV series ''[[The Masked Singer (American TV series)|The Masked Singer]]'' as "Skeleton".<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Lynette Rice|title=The Masked Singer Skeleton admits he got a call from David Letterman weeks ago|url=https://ew.com/tv/2019/10/16/the-masked-singer-skeleton-paul-shaffer-interview/|date=October 16, 2019|access-date=October 16, 2019|magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}</ref>

In 2019, Shaffer began hosting ''Paul Shaffer Plus One'', a monthly talk show on [[SiriusXM]] and [[AXS TV]] that featured Shaffer interviewing colleagues in the music industry such as [[Sammy Hagar]], [[Graham Nash]], [[ZZ Top]]'s [[Billy Gibbons]], and [[Donald Fagen]] of [[Steely Dan]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/paul-shaffer-launch-celebrity-interview-show-siriusxm-axs-tv-1187513 |title=Paul Shaffer to Launch Celebrity Interview Show on SiriusXM and AXS TV |website=The Hollywood Reporter |first=Hilary |last=Hughes |date=February 18, 2019}}</ref>

===Charity work===
Since 2002, he has been the national spokesperson for Epilepsy Canada. On September 29, 2005, Shaffer made a major contribution to Lakehead University to dedicate the fifth-floor ATAC boardroom to his father Bernard Shaffer, inaugural member of the board of governors. In June 2006, he received a star on [[Canada's Walk of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web | url =https://etcanada.com/photos/233086/celebrities-whove-earned-a-spot-on-canadas-walk-of-fame/#image-233289 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20170703214953/http://etcanada.com/photos/233086/celebrities-whove-earned-a-spot-on-canadas-walk-of-fame/#image-233289 | url-status =dead | archive-date =July 3, 2017 | title =Celebrities who've earned a spot on Canada's Walk of Fame | last =Ogweng | first =Sylvia | date =June 29, 2018 | website =ET Canada | publisher =Corus Entertainment, Inc. | access-date =January 26, 2019}}</ref>

In 2005, along with [[Steven Van Zandt]], he organized a benefit for [[Mike Smith (Dave Clark Five)|Mike Smith]] (formerly of [[The Dave Clark Five]]), who had suffered a paralysing fall at his home in Spain. Shaffer cites Mike Smith as an early influence.

In 2012, Shaffer appeared in ''[[12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief]]'', where Shaffer accompanied Adam Sandler. The concert raised money for the people who were affected by [[Hurricane Sandy]] in October 2012. Later in 2012, Shaffer appeared in a skit of ''SNL Christmas'', which aired on Saturday, December 15, 2012. He appeared playing the piano and singing for the host [[Martin Short]].

Shaffer is a member of Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://artistsagainstracism.org/artists/|title=Artists - Artists Against Racism|website=Artistsagainstracism.org|access-date=August 15, 2018}}</ref>

===Memoir===
Shaffer's memoir, ''We'll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Show-biz Saga'' (co-authored by [[David Ritz]]) was published on October 6, 2009. The same day, he made an appearance as a guest on ''The Late Show''.