If you were scrolling through social media on Valentine’s Day 2025, you probably saw a fever dream of a clip: Lady Gaga singing "Shallow" while Andy Samberg—decked out in a cowboy hat—purposely butchered the opening notes. It was chaotic. It was loud. It was exactly what the SNL 50 Homecoming Concert needed to be.
For three hours, Radio City Music Hall became a pressure cooker of nostalgia. Forget the polished, stiff award shows we're used to. This was Lorne Michaels and Mark Ronson throwing the ultimate house party for the show's 50th anniversary. It wasn't just a concert; it was a loud, messy reminder that Saturday Night Live has been the heartbeat of American music culture for half a century.
Jimmy Fallon kicked things off with a high-energy "Soul Man" alongside The Roots. Honestly, he looked like he might pass out from the sheer adrenaline by the time he hit his monologue. "This year we both turn 50," he joked, "and if we’re being honest, we both peaked around 25." The crowd ate it up.
The SNL 50 Homecoming Concert Performance Highlights
The lineup was a "who’s who" that actually made sense.
We’re talking Miley Cyrus covering Queen’s "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" with Brittany Howard, which felt like a spiritual successor to her legendary performance at the 40th anniversary. Then you had Bad Bunny bringing the energy with "Baile Inolvidable" and "DTMF." It was a constant whiplash between genres, but in a way that kept you glued to the screen.
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One of the weirdest—and arguably best—moments was "Post Nirvana." Adam Sandler walked out to introduce them, and suddenly you had Post Malone fronting the surviving members of Nirvana for "Smells Like Teen Spirit." It sounds like a bad internet fan theory, but it worked. It really did.
Character Revivals and Musical Comedy
The night didn’t just rely on straight-up sets.
- The Culps: Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer returned as Marty and Bobbi Mohan-Culp. They did a medley that somehow bridged "Do That to Me One More Time" with Kendrick Lamar’s "Not Like Us." It was absurd.
- Nick Valentine: Bill Murray brought back his lounge singer persona to perform "You’re All I Need to Get By" with Paul Shaffer, Maya Rudolph, and Cecily Strong.
- The Lonely Island: The medley they pulled off was a masterclass in viral history. We got "Dick in a Box" (with Gaga filling in for Justin Timberlake), "I’m on a Boat" with T-Pain, and "Lazy Sunday" with Chris Parnell.
Why the SNL 50 Homecoming Concert felt different
Most anniversary specials feel like a museum exhibit. You look at the artifacts, you clap, you go home. This felt like a live nerve.
By having Mark Ronson executive produce, the music actually sounded good. The Roots acted as the house band for most of the night, providing a cohesive thread between the B-52s singing "Love Shack" and Lauryn Hill reuniting with Wyclef Jean for "Killing Me Softly."
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There was a heavy focus on tributes, too. Eddie Vedder took the stage for a haunting cover of Tom Petty’s "The Waiting." As he sang, the screens behind him flashed images of fallen SNL legends like John Belushi, Gilda Radner, and Norm Macdonald. It was one of the few times the room actually went quiet.
Surprising Pairings
The collaborative spirit was everywhere.
- Bonnie Raitt and Chris Martin performed "I Can't Make You Love Me."
- Robyn and David Byrne teamed up for "Dancing on My Own" and "This Must Be the Place."
- Snoop Dogg and Jelly Roll gave us a mashup of "Gin and Juice" and "Last Dance with Mary Jane."
It’s easy to be cynical about a 50th-anniversary milestone. People love to say "SNL hasn't been funny since [insert year they were 15 years old]." But seeing Jack White close out the night with "Seven Nation Army" while the entire Radio City audience vibrated with the bass... you kind of realize the show’s musical legacy is bulletproof.
How to catch up on the celebration
If you missed the live Peacock stream on February 14, you’ve still got options to see what the hype was about.
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The concert was essentially the "opening act" for the massive 50th Anniversary Special that aired two days later on NBC. While the Sunday show was more about the sketches and the "Five-Timers Club," the Homecoming Concert is where the raw energy lived.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Stream on Peacock: The full three-hour SNL 50 Homecoming Concert is available for on-demand streaming. If you only have time for a few segments, prioritize The Lonely Island medley and the Robyn/David Byrne collaboration.
- Check the "Ladies & Gentlemen" Doc: To get the full context of why these specific performers were chosen, watch the NBC documentary Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music. It explains the behind-the-scenes chaos of the musical guest slot over the decades.
- YouTube Highlights: If you’re looking for specific performances, the SNL official YouTube channel has uploaded several of the high-definition clips, including Miley Cyrus’s tribute and the Nirvana/Post Malone set.
The 50th anniversary is a massive undertaking, but the Homecoming Concert proved that even after five decades, the show still knows how to throw a party that people actually want to attend.