Radio City. 20 of the most famous recording artists of all time. A packed house filled entirely with Saturday Night Live crew, past and present. In each seat is one of your favorite comedians. One balls to the walls three and half hour show.
Spending Valentine's day alone? The word jealousy comes to mind.
Spending Valentine's day anywhere but SNL50: The Homecoming Concert? The word jealousy busts through the wall like the Kool-Aid man.
This weekend kicks off Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary celebration with SNL50: The Homecoming Concert, which streamed exclusively on Peacock. This is part of the run up to the actual anniversary special airing Sunday, February 16.
The show ran for over three hours with over 20 acts performing an eclectic, electric, and (wonderfully) messy mix of originals and covers, celebrating SNL's rich musical history. It's rare to get this many industry giants under one roof unless 1) They're giving out trophies or 2) Michael Jackson asked nicely. This concert was a historic rarity that gave us memorable performances, unlikely pairings, and some pretty wild moments. Any music fan would kill to be in this room, but every seat tonight was filled by someone who is in some way connected to Saturday Night Live. For those of us who aren't, here's how it went down:
Jimmy Fallon does Blues Brothers
Jimmy Fallon, of course, took up hosting duties, with his house band The Roots on backup. From the outset, the concert didn't waste a moment getting going – we open on Jimmy Fallon in black sunglasses and a fedora, flanked by an army of Blues Brothers backup dancers. He busts into his best Belushi and delivers an energetic rendition of "Soul Man" while flailing around the stage, before breathlessly launching into his opening monologue where he introduces our first act.
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus opened with "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen with Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard. Miley then performed her song "Flowers".
Miley Cyrus performing ‘This Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ by the ICONIC Queen with The Roots at SNL 50th Anniversary Show. pic.twitter.com/lLQJQlSVee
— ͛ (@COWBOYREQUIEM) February 15, 2025
Bad Bunny
Former double duty host/musical guest Bad Bunny performed "Baile Inolvidable" and "DTMF" off his new album Debí Tirar Más Fotos.
Nick Valentine plays Radio City
Bill Murray reprised his SNL character Nick the Lounge Singer, accompanied by late night bandleader Paul Shaffer. He brought out former cast members Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, and Cecily Strong to join him for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's “You’re All I Need To Get By”.
Eddie Vedder pays tribute to Tom Petty and Elvis Costello
Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder joined The Roots for Tom Petty's "The Waiting". Before the bridge, they slowed it down and Eddie took a moment to "think about all the people that could be here, that we'd be missing." He went on to list a few notable SNL alumni who have since passed, like Gilda Radner and Phil Hartman, before finishing the song.
Vedder then paid homage to Elvis Costello's infamous performance where he played a few seconds of "Less Than Zero" before making an abrupt unplanned switch to "Radio Radio", which was rumored to have pissed off Lorne so much that he permanently banned Costello from SNL. This, of course, proved to be untrue as Costello has since appeared at multiple SNL events since the incident.
Vedder played the same first measure of "Less Than Zero", but instead transitions into the Pearl Jam song, "Corduroy."
Tracy Morgan proves he has the voice of an angel
After Eddie Vedder's heartfelt performance, a wild Tracy Morgan appeared, drink and cigarette in hand. The former cast member started laying into his old boss. "Lorne Michaels, you have disrespected me, bitch! [...] No one has asked me to sing!" he exclaimed, before defiantly belting his Astronaut Jones theme song.
He unfortunately did not perform "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah".
The B-52's go out with a BANG BANG
The B-52's finished their farewell tour last year before settling into a residency at Venetian in Las Vegas. They stopped by Radio City Music Hall with former cast member Fred Armisen on drums for their hit "Love Shack". They also brought out current cast members Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman for some help with the "bang bangs" near the end. They also brought out a giant lobster, although, rather curiously, they did not perform "Rock Lobster".
Backstreet Boys x Seinfeld
Ever the crowd pleasers, the Backstreet Boys performed their classic, "I Want It That Way". The boys really made an effort to include the audience for this performance, with Kevin Richardson serenading Jon Lovitz during the bridge. Brian Littrell took it one step further and ventured into the audience, looking for someone to tell him why before landing on... Jerry Seinfeld, who surprisingly knew all the words and did his damndest to sing along when Littrell shoved the mic in his face.
Kevin from BSB singing to Jon Lovitz pic.twitter.com/AUW9yOHBo8
— Will (@moistbill) February 15, 2025
#SNLHomecoming Jerry Seinfeld Wants it That Way #BackstreetBoys pic.twitter.com/lDCtREV9OD
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) February 15, 2025
Devo
Fred Armisen brought back out his kit and joined new wave group Devo for their song "Uncontrollable Urge" (which you may recognize as the theme song from MTV's Ridiculousness). Though absent their energy domes, the band was delightfully weird as ever, wearing the yellow jumpsuits from their original SNL performance – which were quickly torn off over the course of the song by Mark Mothersbaugh.
Lonely Island Medley
The lights come up. Last Gaga is at a piano. She's gonna do "Shallow". Except instead of Bradley Cooper, we have former cast and Lonely Island member Andy Samberg. He tried to eek out the first couple lines before Gaga cut him off and suggested they sing a different song, telling Samberg "don't be a bitch." The duo jumped right into "Dick in a Box" with Gaga filling in for Justin Timberlake's parts.
Enter Chris Parnell (and Jorma Taccone dressed like a cupcake) for "Lazy Sunday", this time with a new beat switch. The beat? Kendrick Lamar's "TV Off". Parnell yelled MUSTAAAARDDDD when suddenly Jorma killed him with a laser cat and we hear Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" making way for Bad Bunny to deliver an operatic, spanish rendition of "I Just Had Sex".
T-Pain showed up for a brief section of "I'm on a Boat", culminating with Eddie Vedder being rolled in on a pirate ship, filling in for Michael Bolton on "Jack Sparrow". The entire company joined together on stage for a triumphant reprise of "Dick in a Box", ending with an interpolation of "Jizz in my Pants".
It was heartbreakingly beautiful.
Fugees Mini Reunion
An appearance from Lauryn Hill was announced, although many were skeptical if it would come to fruition. Former cast member Kenan Thompson introduced Lauryn Hill before cutting to a pretaped short film showing her and Wyclef Jean in a limo. The film quickly ended though, and as if by a miracle, Hill and Jean entered stage right and played a medley of “Lost Ones", “Ex-Factor”, “911”, and “Killing Me Softly With His Song", which was met with a roaring standing ovation.
Will Ferrell sings "Not Like Us"
Former cast members Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer reprised a The Culps, two married middle school music teachers who torture their pupils with good clean versions of pop songs. After a bit of lengthy vamping, they treated us to a nice sampling of songs, starting us off easy with Captain and Tenille's "Do That to Me One More Time" before going into Doechii's "CATFISH" and Chappell Roan's "Good Luck Babe".
But perhaps most lewd and lascivious was Will Ferrell's raw, UNCENSORED cover of Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" where he, of course, got a room full of people to unite, if just for a brief moment, to collectively shout "A MINOR". Not even Radio City is safe for Drake.
Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer as Marty Culp and Bobbi Mohan-Culp perform Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" during #SNL50's Homecoming Concert 👀pic.twitter.com/CimtkrYNeB
— Saturday Night Network (@thesnlnetwork) February 15, 2025
Jelly Roll Walks the Line
Jelly Roll did the rounds on Johnny Cash's greatest hits, doing faithful covers of "I Walk The Line," "Folsom Prison Blues," and finally "Ring Of Fire."
Brandi Carlile- The Joke
Brandi Carlile performed her 2018 song "The Joke". She and Elton John recently announced a new album together.
Mumford and Sons
We were then transported back to 2012 where Mumford and Sons played their hit "I Will Wait". They followed that up with a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer" with dobro accompaniment from Jerry Douglas.
("The Boxer" was performed on the third ever episode of Saturday Night Live. Paul Simon hen returned to the SNL stage in 2001 where he performed the song a second time during their first post-9/11 show.)
Mumford and Sons singing ‘I will wait’ at the #SNL50 Homecoming concert. pic.twitter.com/zeoz87pliN
— Pop Truther (@poptruther) February 15, 2025
Snoop Dogg and Jelly Roll
Former cast member Ana Gasteyer returned to reprise Martha Stewart introducing Snoop Dogg, who performed "Gin and Juice" before bringing out Jelly Roll for the second Tom Petty tribute of the night with "Last Dance With Mary Jane", their new song which samples Petty's 1993 song.
David Byrne, St. Vincent, Arcade Fire, Preservation Hall Jazz Band
The former three acts teamed up for an explosive cover of David Bowie's "Heroes". They were then joined by Preservation Hall Jazz Band for a New Orleans style rendition of Arcade Fire's "Wake Up"
Bonnie Raitt makes everyone cry
The 2023 Song of the Year winner performed her 1989 song "Thing Called Love", and was then joined by Coldplay's Chris Martin on piano for a Valentine's day performance of "I Can't Make You Love Me".
Chris Martin and Bonnie Raitt performing "I Can't Make You Love Me" on #SNL50 pic.twitter.com/XpxEuU1B7g
— ASTHTC (@theASTHTC) February 15, 2025
Post Nirvana
Adam Sandler introduced "Post Nirvana". For a moment it was unclear who would be providing vocals. A few weeks ago they collaborated with a rotation of female vocalists for their FireAid set. As the band got set up it quickly became clear that the answer was the most obvious and the most fun; Post Malone, who brought a guttural cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
David Byrne and Robyn
For the show's third act, John Mulaney introduced "the only two singers I can dance like", Robyn and David Byrne, in matching big suits. They performed Robyn's “Dancing On My Own” followed by Talking Heads' "This Must Be the Place"
The performance speaks for itself.
Robyn performs 'Dancing On My Own' with David Byrne #SNLHomecoming #SNL50 pic.twitter.com/rlNIS99xCh
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) February 15, 2025
Cher Turns Back Time
Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen appeared as Beyonce and Prince to introduce Cher, who delivered a powerful, stunning, guitar heavy "If I Could Turn Back Time". Even Kevin Costner was left awestruck.
Get someone who looks at you like Kevin Costner looks at Cher performing on the #SNLHomecoming #SNL50 concert special. pic.twitter.com/2UxE1wxfTF
— Courtney Howard (@Lulamaybelle) February 15, 2025
Cher at the #SNL50 singing “If I Could Turn Back Time”.
— ✨MECHY✨ (@MariamEchegaray) February 15, 2025
So Powerful, so beautiful, I’m not words to describe. The wait was worth it A LOT.
Remember her age, COME ON!!!! pic.twitter.com/cigRPVSBzx
Lady Gaga but for real
No false starts this time. Just Gaga and her grand piano as she performed the Oscar winning song "Shallow" from A Star is Born.
lady gaga performing shallow at SNL 50 pic.twitter.com/m5LqgIjocz
— Gaga Crave 🌷 (@AMENARTPOP) February 15, 2025
Jimmy Fallon stalls for Jack White
Just when it seemed like the show was over and there was no way they could come up with a better closer, we cut to... Jimmy Fallon awkwardly ambling around the stage? He assured us that Jack White will soon be performing, but in the meantime decided to give his heartfelt thanks to Chevy Chase who, for some reason, was standing at the foot of the stage. They shook hands, and after what seemed like minutes, Jack White is finally ready.
Jimmy Fallon to Chevy Chase: “Without you, there would be no Saturday Night Live, buddy. You’re the best. I love you so much” #SNL50 pic.twitter.com/J9VmXLHbCN
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) February 15, 2025
Jack White
In a comparatively stripped back performance, Jack White covered Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World". But of course, he can't send the crowd home empty handed. He closed out the show with a crazy five minute performance of "Seven Nation Army"
Jack White closed out SNL's 50th anniversary concert by performing "Seven Nation Army"pic.twitter.com/Xl4Y9zLdZy
— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) February 15, 2025
The thunderous applause was quickly drowned out by Howard Shore's iconic closing theme, and so ended the delightfully chaotic extravaganza that was SNL50: The Homecoming Concert.
SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration will air on NBC this Sunday at 8pm ET. It's unclear if that special will feature any musical performances and who will be performing if so, but fans looking to dive deeper into SNL's musical history can watch Questlove's documentary 'Ladies and Gentlemen ... 50 Years of SNL Music' which is available to stream now on Peacock.
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