SNL guests from top row from left, Bad Bunny, Quinta Brunson, Sabrina Carpenter, Dave Chappelle, Miley Cyrus, Robert De Niro, second row from left, Adam Driver, Ayo Edebiri, Tom Hanks, Woody Harrelson, Scarlett Johansson, Peyton Manning, and bottom row from left, Steve Martin, Paul McCartney, John Mulaney, Pedro Pascal, Martin Short and Paul Simon.The Associated Press
The cold open to SNL50: The Anniversary Special featured Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter gracefully duetting on Homeward Bound, the wistful Simon and Garfunkel hit from 1966. The performance took place on “home base,” the iconic comedy show’s name for the familiar set where hosts have traditionally given the opening monologue for five decades.
A strumming 83-year-old Simon weakly sang the opening lines against a familiar backdrop that replicated New York’s Grand Central Station: “Sittin’ in the railway station, got a ticket for my destination, on a tour of one-night stands.”
Before the tune, Simon mentioned that he had performed the same song on the same show with George Harrison in 1976. “I was not born then,” the 25-year-old Carpenter quipped, “and neither were my parents.”
So, the sketch series has spanned generations. Sunday’s special not only featured current and former cast members and past hosts, but also several artists whose performances saluted the show’s groundbreaking history of live music. (Before NBC’s Midnight Special and Saturday Night Live, artists on television typically mimed to pre-recorded tapes.)
Jimmy Fallon says it was his childhood dream to be a "SNL" cast member.
The Associated Press
Fans of SNL all have their touchstone musical moments. Like cutting into a tree trunk and examining the rings inside, one’s most fondly remembered appearances are revealing. I think of Neil Young’s blistering Rockin’ in the Free World and Living Colour’s in-your-face Cult of Personality in 1989, and Mariah Carey’s elegant singing of Vanishing one year later. I was in my mid-20s – a sweet-spot age for SNL love.
Other moments over the years transcend time and demographics. On Sunday, a begowned Miley Cyrus and a Telecaster-wielding Brittany Howard offered a punchy version of Nothing Compares 2 U, the Prince-written hit for Sinéad O’Connor.
In a 1992 SNL episode, the Irish singer-songwriter delivered a mesmerizing a capella version of Bob Marley’s War. After which, in an unforgettable protest against the Catholic Church, O’Connor shredded a photograph of Pope John Paul II. “Fight the real enemy,” she said, throwing the picture’s pieces to the floor.
Sunday’s broadcast was a culmination of an SNL celebration that paid special attention to a vibrant musical heritage. It began with last month’s Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music, a documentary by Ahmir (Questlove) Thompson and Oz Rodriguez. On Friday, SNL50: The Homecoming Concert took place at Radio City Music Hall, a short walk from the SNL studio at 30 Rockefeller Centre.
Highlights of the Jimmy Fallon-hosted concert that streamed live on NBC’s Peacock service included performances by Eddie Vedder, Bad Bunny, the B-52s, Bill Murray, Post Malone (with Nirvana’s Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic), David Byrne, Devo, Jack White, Cher (”If I could turn back time”) and more. The unavoidable Lady Gaga would not be denied – her appearance followed similar high-exposure spots at the Paris Olympics, the Grammy Awards and Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.
New Orleans native Lil Wayne said he was hurt when he wasn’t invited to headline the Super Bowl halftime show. Backed by the Roots, the star rapper made up for it on Sunday with a nimble medley of hits that would have sounded fine from the 50-yard line. It was another in a long line of important hip hop performances on a show that over the years has not only spotlighted legacy acts and contemporary pop, but emerging artists at the zeitgeist’s bleeding edge.
Midway through the special, former cast member Adam Sandler, a noted slob almost unrecognizable in a tuxedo, strummed a salute to the show’s long run. Though Sandler has an outstanding repertoire of jokey SNL ditties, this song was presented with affection, a shot at Kanye West’s antisemitism notwithstanding. At the end, the studio audience was on its feet to applaud what Sandler lyrically described as “50 years of the best times of our lives.”
He meant people associated with SNL, but it could apply to devoted viewers as well. For half a century, Saturday Night Live has lit up late-night living rooms and reliably offered a zany place to gather.
While the comedy has been consistently inconsistent over the years, the music has been typically stellar. That said, the show has lost its counterculture attitude; the artists booked now are more corporate, less bohemian. During the first season alone, the peculiar Tin Pan Alley throwback Leon Redbone appeared on three occasions. Someone like him wouldn’t get past 30 Rock security guards in 2025.
On the first ever episode of what was originally known as NBC’s Saturday Night, the introspective singer-songwriter Janis Ian sang At Seventeen, a sulky anthem about a young female outcast. These days, the typical music guest is a sex-kitten chart-topper such as Carpenter, a former Seventeen magazine cover girl.
The anniversary special that began with Homeward Bound ended with more melodic longing. Sitting at a psychedelically painted piano, a vocally challenged Paul McCartney sang “Once there was a way to get back home,” kicking off the Beatles’ Abbey Road album-ending medley of Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight and The End.
After McCartney’s finale, the show cut to commercials before returning to the traditional stage-crowding and hugged-out signoff. A familiar saxophone riff, a lullaby for adults, sent viewers to bed.