Jack Black, Elton John, and Brandi Carlile all returned to Saturday Night Live last night, marking the fourth time that Black has hosted and the third time that John and Carlile have performed as musical guests in their respective careers. A riled-up Black riffed on everything from Indiana Jones to the overabundance of bassists at jam sessions, and even did his best Gerard Way impression for “Goth Kid on Vacation” spoofing My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade. Meanwhile, John and Carlile picked two songs from their new collaborative album, Who Believes in Angels?, to perform live—the title track and “Little Richard’s Bible”—while surrounded by flashing neon signs. Watch clips from their performance on SNL, and a handful of Black’s skits, below.
John, a recently stamped EGOT winner, made his SNL debut back in 1982 on an episode hosted by Johnny Cash. His next visit arrived in 2011, where he served as both host and musical guest. Meanwhile, Carlile first appeared on the show in 2021 alongside Jason Sudeikis, and returned one year later as the musical guest for a December episode hosted by Steve Martin and Martin Short.
It had been almost exactly 20 years since Black last hosted SNL, joining the late-night show in 2002, 2003, and 2005, and as the musical guest with Tenacious D in 2006. As Stereogum points out, the previous episode with the actor at the drawing board was pretty prolific, as it included the revered sketches “Lazy Sunday” and “Christmastime for the Jews.”
The 50th season of Saturday Night Live premiered last September, and the show celebrated that milestone with two massive, star-studded specials: SNL50: The Homecoming Concert and SNL50: The Anniversary Special. The NBC show’s first traditional episodes since January (back when Timothée Chalamet served as host and musical guest) were Shane Gillis and musical guest Tate McRae on March 1, and Lady Gaga pulling double duty on March 8.