Lady Gaga during ‘SNL 50: The Homecoming Concert’. Photo:
Peacock
Lady Gaga lent her award-winning vocals to an iconic (and a little naughty) Saturday Night Live tune during the sketch show’s special 50th anniversary concert.
The pop megastar took the stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Friday, Feb. 14 alongside Andy Samberg, where the pair kicked off a star-studded tribute to Samberg’s beloved comedy troupe The Lonely Island.
After a pitchy rendition of Gaga’s A Star Is Born hit “Shallow,” the pop star pivoted Samberg to something more in his wheelhouse: 2009 SNL parody song, “D— in a Box,” which Samberg originally performed with Justin Timberlake.
Gaga took on Timberlake’s vocals while playing the piano, giving the comedic hit a soulful twist. They also segued into “Motherlover,” another Timberlake and Samberg pairing from SNL in 2009.
Andy Samberg. Kevin Mazur/Peacock
The pair’s duet led into a years-spanning revisit of some of the Lonely Island’s most iconic sketches and songs. First, former castmember Chris Parnell took the stage to perform an updated version of 2009’s “Lazy Sunday” with Samberg. There were nods to other the Lonely Island sketches — “Laser Cats” and “Dear Sister” — sprinkled in.
Bad Bunny returned to the stage to sing an operatic version of 2011’s “I Just Had Sex,” before T-Pain arrived — with mermaids — to revisit his lyrics in 2009’s “I’m on a Boat.” The entire Lonely Island reunion was concluded with a rousing rendition of 2011’s “Jack Sparrow.”
Toward the end of the concert special, Gaga returned and did sing “Shallow” — without Samberg’s help.
The SNL 50: Homecoming Concert telecast also featured performances from Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Jelly Roll, Backstreet Boys, Arcade Fire, Bonnie Raitt, Brandi Carlile, Brittany Howard, Chris Martin, David Byrne, DEVO, Eddie Vedder, Jack White, Mumford & Sons, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Robyn, The B-52s and The Roots.
Chris Parnell (left) and Andy Samberg. Theo Wargo/Peacock
Late last month, after dropping a series of teasers on her official website, Gaga announced her seventh studio album Mayhem will be released on March 7.
The project will feature 14 songs, including the previously released songs “Disease” and “Die With a Smile” with Bruno Mars.
In a press release, the Grammy winner revealed Mayhem will be all about returning to her roots in a new way. “The album started as me facing my fear of returning to the pop music my earliest fans loved,” Gaga said in a statement.
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She also compared the project to “reassembling a shattered mirror: even if you can’t put the pieces back together perfectly, you can create something beautiful and whole in its own new way.”
According to the release, Mayhem is about “chaos and transformation, celebrating music’s power to unite, provoke, and heal.”
SNL50: The Homecoming Concert kicked off at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14 and is available to stream on Peacock.
On Sunday, Feb. 16, the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special airs at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
