5 Times ‘SNL’ Cast Members Sang Along With Musical Guests
Nearly from the beginning, Saturday Night Live musical guests have used the show as a vehicle to promote a new album, introduce a new style or even launch a career. The last thing the artists want is goofy cast members joining in, turning a sizzling musical spot into a ridiculous sketch.
At least, that’s usually how it works. Over the years, pop and rock acts have occasionally invited cast members to join in the fun — here are five times when comedy and music came together on SNL…
Chevy Chase and Carly Simon
When Simon recorded her hit, “You’re So Vain,” she persuaded Mick Jagger to sing uncredited backup vocals. Not a lot of radio listeners knew Jagger was singing, but they would have found out when Jagger agreed to back Simon during an early Saturday Night Live appearance.
Instead, it was Chase donning an apricot scarf and singing backup during Simon’s performance. But it’s not clear why — some accounts say Jagger had to back out due to scheduling conflicts and Chase filled in. Others say Simon suffered extreme stage fright, and Chase was there to calm her nerves. In either case, Chase was the first SNL comic to bang a cowbell during a show.
John Belushi and Joe Cocker
Long before Belushi made it to Saturday Night Live, his Joe Cocker act was a staple at Second City and in National Lampoon’s Lemmings. It wasn’t the most flattering impression. Belushi met Cocker at a club and asked him if he hated it, according to the book The Blues Brothers. “No, I don’t,” Cocker replied. “But some of my friends do.”
Cocker knew Belushi planned to join him on stage during his SNL guest spot, but the singer appeared uncomfortable and refused to take Belushi’s hand after the performance. Once the show ran, Belushi told Rolling Stone that he was retiring his Cocker impression.
Bruce Springsteen, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler
“I’m very shy,” Tina Fey told Howard Stern. “We never would try to talk to the host or musical guests back when I worked there.”
So she wasn’t prepared when Bruce Springsteen requested some musical help from holiday hosts Fey and Amy Poehler: “You and Amy go up there and shake jingle bells!”
“I was like, Oh yeah, sure, sure, sure. And then we got up there and we were shaking the jingle bells, and (Bruce was) calling us up to the mic,” she told Stern. “I was like, Is this a trick? Get the fuck out of here! It was terrifying.”
Did Fey actually sing “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town?” “I’m saying, ‘Okay, I’m on Bruce Springsteen’s mic so obviously this mic is hot.’ Nobody wants to hear me so I kept trying to move my face a lot while making as little sound as possible.”
Willie Nelson and Victoria Jackson
Jackson made her mark on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show with quirky ukulele songs, a talent she brought to SNL. She submitted “The Boyfriend Song” to sing with Willie Nelson back in 1987.
“I was singing songs because I did not know how to write a sketch or a character,” she told the Wasn’t That Special podcast. “The Sweeney Sisters also had a sketch where they were singing with Willie, and I knew Lorne wouldn’t have women singing with Willie and another sketch with a woman singing with Willie. He was going to have to choose between me or them. The show had already started and we were all in our costumes and one minute before, they go, ‘It's Victoria.’”
“That was one of the highlights of my whole life,” she told Closer Weekly.
Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg
When the Lonely Island crew first met Justin Timberlake, “We were like, What are we gonna do with this guy?’” Samberg admitted to Howard Stern. “We were still so new, we didn’t understand how to face it. But we bonded over that we all loved early ‘90s R&B music.”
Stern asked if it was hard to convince Timberlake to take on such a risque subject. “He went for it immediately,” marveled Samberg. “In fact, we’re comedians so we were like, I don’t know, this might be stupid.’”
But Timberlake was all in. “He was like, ‘That’s great! That’s going to be a hit!’”
“And we were like, Really?”