It seems like a daunting task, to sum up 50 years of music in one night. But when you harbor its cultural cachet, the respect artists have for Saturday Night Live and its stunningly expansive rolodex, as well as the shear production power of both SNL honcho Lorne Michaels and producer Mark Ronson, the result is a three-hour-plus extravaganza to rival even the starriest, most packed Grammys, Oscars or its ilk.
Saturday Night Live: the 20 greatest sketches ever
Coming in from New York’s bitter chill on Valentine’s night, the chosen venue was Radio City Music Hall, a perfect home considering its Rockefeller Center confines are not only a hop, skip and a jump from SNL’s Studio 8H at nearby NBC Studios. Its art deco space serves as the epitome of New York City: a tourist mecca beloved by hardscrabble locals. So it seemed natural that the Rockettes and SNL would both grace its hallowed stage at one time.
Scanning the crowd, it’s clear this was a unique audience. Aside from normal fans who populated the pit, the audience was made up of former hosts, cast members, writers and friends of the show. The show’s expansive legacy played out as a dynamic tapestry in the lobby: lumbering down its carpeted floor flanked by his family was a baseball hat-clad Chevy Chase, of course a veteran of the original 1975 cast. Over there, in a tank top in line for beer at the concession stand, palling out with the bartender, was Jason Momoa; nearby, Pete Davidson (cast member 2014-2022) kibitzed with Nate Bargatze.
Alec Baldwin and Lorne Michaels. Photograph: John Nacion/Variety/Getty Images
All-star SNL host Alec Baldwin also chatted gamely and caught up with the SNL team, as Paul Rudd and James Franco hugged it out outside. Sharp-in-a-suit Miles Teller and his wife seemed to be on a double date with Anya Taylor-Joy’s husband, both former hosts. Former cast members Jon Lovitz (1985-1990) and Horatio Sanz (1998-2006) also hugged it out. New generation stars also made their presence known, from Hot Ones ringleader Sean Evans to the comedian/podcast host Theo Von, as did TV personality besties Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper, to name a small smattering of faces.
Inside, the 6,000-seat venue was outfitted with three stages; two of them flanked by replicas of Grand Central Station, a nod to the show’s current set. Opening the proceedings was Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon (cast member 1998-2004), who busted out an energetic tribute to the Blues Brothers: perhaps it was too energetic, with Fallon subsequently out of breath for his monologue, adding an added sense of energy. “I have two things in common with SNL,” he said into the mic. “This year we both turn 50 and, if we’re being honest, we both peaked around 25,” he cracked.
The show was divided into segments meant to honor a specific aspect of SNL’s music history. Miley Cyrus, who memorably sang during SNL’s 40th anniversary special 10 years ago, helped start things off with her own hit Flowers as well as a tribute to Queen in the form of a cover of Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which the Freddie Mercury-backed band performed on the show in 1982. Showing its muscle, Bad Bunny was also trotted out to show its continuing force, as the Puerto Rican icon performed his latest hit DtMF.
Bill Murray. Photograph: Peacock/Todd Owyoung/Getty Images
In tribute to frequent SNL guest Tom Petty, Eddie Vedder performed The Waiting while also nodding to other fallen SNL favorites, like John Belushi and Gilda Radner. Jelly Roll paid tribute to Johnny Cash, while Post Malone and the surviving members of Nirvana sang Smells Like Teen Spirit (they were introduced as Post Nirvana), while an alt all-star mashup of David Byrne, Arcade Fire, and St Vincent teamed up for Heroes in honor of David Bowie (who performed on the show four times, first making his debut in 1979).
Following up memorable appearances during both Fire Aid and the Grammys earlier this month, Lady Gaga was also on hand. When she first tried to perform her Star Is Born hit Shallow early in the show, she was sitting alongside Andy Samberg, who in a cowboy hat, garbled the song’s first line deliciously out of key. “Andy, Andy, I gotta stop you,” said Gaga with her hands on her head. “’Cause it’s bad?” he shot back. “Yes, it’s very bad.”
In reality, it was a gag to lead into a medley of Samberg’s comedy trio The Lonely Island’s range of viral musical parodies including Dick in a Box (with Gaga taking original duet partner Justin Timberlake’s lines), I Just Had Sex (assisted by Bad Bunny) and I’m on a Boat (assisted by T-Pain). Most impressive was a performance of Lazy Sunday, a rap he concocted with cast member Chris Parnell (1998-2006) with the two delivering a pitch-perfect version of the song that shot him to fame and wound up popularizing YouTube at the time.
Bad Bunny, Chris Parnell, Lady Gaga and Andy Samberg. Photograph: Virginia Sherwood/AP
The extravaganza was sprinkled with a bevy of other comedy music moments, with Bill Murray (and his 70s-era Nick the Lounge Singer bit) as well as Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer (as hopelessly-out-of-touch music teachers Bobbi and Marty Culp), the latter of whom nerdily covered Kendrick Lamar’s fresh from the Super Bowl anthem Not Like Us. Elsewhere, Tracy Morgan sang his swingin’ theme to his popular sketch Astronaut Jones.
“Please take your seats, please take your seats,” the director pleaded into the mic every commercial break as the connected audience caught up with each other. Despite its extended runtime, the show’s incredible zigzagging demanded and secured everybody’s ongoing attention, with the audience perhaps cheering loudest for Cher (If I Could Turn Back Time) and the Backstreet Boys, with the crowd singing along to every word of I Want It That Way (including Jerry Seinfeld). Meanwhile, Brandi Carlile earned a standing ovation for her 2018 ballad The Joke.
Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. Photograph: Todd Owyoung/AP
You know it was a big night when Chris Martin merely served as a piano player for one set, simply accompanying Bonnie Raitt on Thing Called Love, a song she originally performed on the show in 1990. Speaking of all-star musicians, The Roots deftly served as house band; with Questlove on drums, they helped back everyone from the B-52’s to Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. Elsewhere, Snoop Dogg rapped Gin and Juice, which he performed on the show in 1994 (then known as Snoop Doggy Dogg, of course).
By the end of any regular episode of Saturday Night Live, it’s clear where the highs and lows were; the very nature of the show is that it’s designed to represent a disparate litany of comedic tastes. Music, perhaps, is less subjective; every song has a beat to latch on to. Perhaps in that sense, as Jack White closed things out with Seven Nation Army, the homecoming bash was void of any low points. If only every concert were like this.
