For a show that's never been shy about celebrating itself, Saturday Night Live was bound to lean hard into its 50th season. But the results were as mixed as ever — a tendency that extended to the season's musical guests, who formed an eclectic cocktail of massive chart-toppers (Bad Bunny, Morgan Wallen, Lady Gaga), breakout stars (Chappell Roan, Benson Boone, Shaboozey), fading legacy acts (Arcade Fire, Coldplay), transcendent legacy acts (Stevie Nicks) and, of course, ever-effortful Timothée Chalamet, campaigning hard for an Oscar that never came.
The SNL stage is always a crapshoot — some acts are better than others at making a nondescript space exciting, to say nothing of the show's eternally shaky sound mixes — which makes ranking each season's musical guests an adventure. But, because ranking the SNL musical guests for seven straight years means that subsequent lists are required by law, rank them we must.
For the eighth consecutive year (here's 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018), we've wrangled the great, the middling and the truly misbegotten from SNL's regular season into one digestible list. As always, we've included links for the ones that are still streaming on YouTube, but if you really want to see for yourself, each of these sets is still streaming on Peacock, whether or not Morgan Wallen wants them to be.
20. Arcade Fire, "Pink Elephant" and "Year of the Snake" (5/10/25)
SNL's bookers are generally good at mixing major chart-toppers, big names in country and hip-hop, hall-of-famers and artists who at least seem like they might be the next big thing. It'd be a tough mix to master — there are only 20 slots to fill in a given season — even if they didn't insist on booking certain past-their-prime legacy acts every single time they release a new album.
Arcade Fire has been on a downward trajectory for ages now, with its last decade's worth of albums producing only sporadic highlights — and that was before singer Win Butler was accused of widespread sexual abuse. Yet SNL still booked the band, which had released a flaccid new record called Pink Elephant just a day earlier, for the penultimate episode of its 50th season.
If you're seeking insights as to why, you won't find them in the band's joyless, by-the-numbers performance of two songs from Pink Elephant. Butler himself certainly committed to the bit, complete with showy costumery and a pointlessly smashed guitar. But his wife and co-bandleader, Régine Chassagne, spent most of "Pink Elephant" and "Year of the Snake" looking as if she'd just driven past an open sewer. This was a full banquet of crummy vibes, without even decent songs to lighten the mood.
19. Coldplay, "All My Love" and "We Pray (feat. Elyanna & Tini)" (10/5/24)
Coldplay has played SNL eight times dating back to 2001, with a characteristically Coldplay-esque range of outcomes. In 2019, the band's agreeable bombast was still playing well — Chris Martin even returned for a sweet solo encore late in that COVID-shortened season — while 2023's corny, Up With People-esque calamity would have made a decent SNL parody had the band been in on the joke.
Unfortunately, this one's another leaden dud. If you watched "All My Love" live and managed to stay awake for "We Pray," then you should pass along your trade secrets to the nation's long-haul truckers, because that song is a weapons-grade snooze, with Martin sounding uncharacteristically pitchy to boot. More eventful by default, "We Pray" found Martin joined by two of the single's many guest vocalists — Elyanna and Tini, each barely audible early on — as they did their best to liven up yet another grim slab of by-the-numbers inspirecore.
18. Morgan Wallen, "I'm the Problem" and "Just in Case" (3/29/25)
A big element of these SNL music rankings revolves around sheer effort; around the simple idea that, given a grand opportunity to reach millions, an artist ought to explore every opportunity to do something transcendent, eye-opening and all-around exciting. Which places country superstar Morgan Wallen at a disadvantage, because he so visibly doesn't want to be there. He gave a listless, indifferent performance in 2020, and upon his return, he didn't even stick around through the closing credits, sauntering offstage abruptly before posting "Get me to God's country" — generating an instant meme in the process — on Instagram.
The whole thing just seemed so… grudging, all around, so why bother in the first place? SNL only booked him because he's country's biggest star; Wallen only showed up because he's got an album, and an endless parade of singles, to promote. But the resulting performances are just… bare-minimum box-checking, yet again. In both "I'm the Problem" and "Just in Case," his vocals improved on his 2020 performance; he's a fine singer, and "Just in Case" is one of the better songs on his new album. But the next time SNL comes calling, we'd all be better off if Wallen opted to stay in God's country.
17. Elton John & Brandi Carlile, "Little Richard's Bible" and "Who Believes in Angels?" (4/5/25)
Elton John's well-deserved victory lap has been going on for roughly a generation, most recently culminating in an affectionate documentary about his life. That film spawned his and Brandi Carlile's Oscar-nominated song "Never Too Late," and now the pair have a full album to their name, titled Who Believes in Angels? And, as much goodwill as these two have generated in their long and frequently brilliant careers — generally speaking, it's always a treat to encounter either of them — the record doesn't land within a thousand miles of either artist's best work.
The same holds true of their joint SNL appearance, which pairs the rollicking "Little Richard's Bible" (a muddily mixed cacophony) with the album's title track (a cloying, forgettable slow burn that coasts on sentiment). John and Carlile have both earned the right to get by on their likability and legacies, but neither song does them justice.
16. Charli xcx, "360" and "Sympathy Is a Knife" (11/16/24)
Brat Summer extended well into November last year, as Charli xcx — a week removed from receiving a bundle of Grammy nominations — took the SNL stage for a pair of high-energy solo performances. But the word "solo" is key here; the singer performed both "360" and "Sympathy Is a Knife" in front of simple backgrounds (one Brat green, the other reading "PARTY GIRL") with only a backing track to support her.
The singer's own vocals sounded fine, and she committed plenty of motion and energy to the bit. But the production itself felt like a janky afterthought; even the backdrops had literal seams showing. Given that Charli was pulling double-duty as SNL's host, it made sense not to ask for too much exertion. But she exerted herself plenty! It was the production team that seemed to be taking the night off.
15. Shaboozey, "Good News" and "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" (12/7/24)
Last year will be forever remembered for bringing us the messy-but-carefree joys of Brat Summer. But we're still living in the Shaboozey Epoch, as "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" has stayed entrenched at or near the top of the pop charts for more than a year. So it's only natural that the affable country star would make his SNL debut as 2024 wound down — and close out his appearance with the song he'll be performing as an encore long after most of our ashes are scattered to the wind.
By December, Shaboozey was trying to usher in a post-"Bar Song" era — harder than it sounds — with a single called "Good News," which still hasn't surpassed the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100's top 40. And there are two good reasons for that: 1) It's hard to get people to notice your new song when they're still flogging your old one; and 2) "Good News" just isn't that eventful, especially compared to its flashier counterpart.
The SNL treatment doesn't work wonders for either song: "Good News" is a bit too slow and rendered with little flash, while "A Bar Song" feels like a ragged afterthought. Shaboozey himself remains a ball of easy, low-key charisma, but both performances could have used a jolt.
14. Jelly Roll, "Liar" and "Winning Streak" (9/28/24)
A rapper turned country star with a powerful life story, Jelly Roll has been a rootable presence since his commercial breakthrough in 2022. But he's never been a subtle or polished singer; like his fellow face-tattooed belter Teddy Swims, he tends to operate most comfortably at maximal volume whether or not the song in question calls for it.
Jelly Roll kicks off the season with two songs from last year's Beautifully Broken, as he, his full band and a decent-sized choir pack into the boxy confines of Studio 8H. It's a solid-but-unspectacular showing, diminished by a poor sound mix and drab staging, yet elevated, particularly in "Liar," by the singer's bountiful enthusiasm.
13. Hozier, "Too Sweet" and "Fairytale of New York" (12/21/24)
Last year, Irish singer-songwriter Hozier enjoyed a huge and well-deserved resurgence with "Too Sweet," which — while far from his best song — returned him to ubiquity a decade after "Take Me to Church." On the SNL stage, he took a modest victory lap, offering up a straightforward, so-so rendering of "Too Sweet" that didn't bother with modifications to the stage or the song.
Significantly better was Hozier's cover of The Pogues' 1987 classic "Fairytale of New York" — one of the most scuffed-up antidotes to holiday treacle ever recorded — which showcased another, darker side of the singer while letting his Irish brogue shine. (It truly took a small choir to replace the late, great Kirsty MacColl.)
12. Tate McRae, "Sports Car" and "Dear God" (3/1/25)
As a dancer, Tate McRae is renowned for pairing her pop songs with intense choreography, as befitting her status as a former finalist on So You Think You Can Dance. As a singer, she's renowned for… the aforementioned choreography. (And, in the case of "Sports Car," for conjuring the spirit of Annie Murphy's "A Little Bit Alexis," from Schitt's Creek.)
Still, what McRae's SNL performance of "Sports Car" lacked in vocal finesse or power — she opted out of the first chorus entirely, leaving it to a hard-working backing track — it gains in sheer exertion, as she and a small fleet of dancers bounded, bended and gyrated atop a huge stack of metal chairs. But their exertion ended at the conclusion of "Sports Car," as "Dear God" stayed still and stultifying, while the chairs hovered pointlessly in the background.
11. Timothée Chalamet, "Outlaw Blues"/"Three Angels" and "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" (1/25/25)
On one hand, having Timothée Chalamet perform Bob Dylan songs on SNL — as part of a robust and ultimately futile campaign to win an Oscar for A Complete Unknown — was a wonderfully weird and gutsy move to attempt in an episode he was already hosting. And, to his credit, Chalamet (backed by, among others, James Blake) doubled down on the weird gutsiness by reaching deep into Dylan's catalog for lesser-known songs when he could've stuck to the classics. It was an audacious, ultimately admirable stunt.
It was also, at its core, a famous actor fronting a cover band to campaign for an Oscar. "Outlaw Blues" had the most fire in its belly, "Three Angels" was mostly spoken-word — sounding significantly more like Chalamet than Dylan — and "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" unleashed an unplugged ramble. All three were competent enough, but they didn't quite cohere into more than an amusing curiosity.
10. Gracie Abrams, "That's So True" and "I Love You, I'm Sorry" (12/14/24)
It may be oversimplifying Gracie Abrams' music to describe it as an answer to the question, "What if Taylor Swift?" But there's no denying that Swift's fingerprints are all over Abrams' career: in her vocal mannerisms, in her diaristic and inquisitive songwriting, even in her tour schedule. (Abrams, Sabrina Carpenter and Benson Boone have all demonstrated that the surest path to pop stardom in the 2020s involves opening for Swift on the Eras Tour.)
That's all a preamble to an acknowledgement that Abrams' perfectly lovely SNL debut was ably rendered throughout: She was backed by a crack band, the staging was elegant but not overwrought, and her vocal — particularly in "That's So True" — stayed on point. Still, she played it safe here, and Abrams never transcended the shadow of her greatest influence. She's the vice president of pop.
9. Stevie Nicks, "The Lighthouse" and "Edge of Seventeen" (10/12/24)
Give the SNL bookers credit for a clever bit of counter-programming. In an episode hosted by Ariana Grande — the ultimate try-hard theater kid, at the height of Wicked's endless promotional cycle, five months removed from a new album — the show passed the musical-guest slot over to the great and good Stevie Nicks, who'd just released a protest song called "The Lighthouse." Grande had just performed new songs on SNL earlier in 2024, so why not cede the stage to a 76-year-old legend with fire in her belly?
That belly-fire infused both of Nicks' performances. The singer's voice has diminished some with age — and, as you might expect, the all-time classic "Edge of Seventeen" vastly outshines "The Lighthouse" from a songwriting standpoint — while the sound mix did her no favors, especially early on. Still, it's a pleasure to watch Nicks command the stage as effectively as she did here.
8. Lizzo, "Love in Real Life"/"Still Bad" and "Don't Make Me Love You" (4/12/25)
After the twin successes of 2019's Cuz I Love You and 2022's Special, Lizzo stands at a crossroads in her career. Lawsuits from several of her dancers helped derail her Emmy-winning stint in reality TV, while the new songs she's unveiled this year — in the run-up to a forthcoming album, to be titled Love in Real Life — have suggested an artist trying on several identities at once.
"Several identities at once" more or less sums up her return to the SNL stage following her triumphant appearances in 2019 and 2022. After opening with the rock riffage — and uncharacteristically shaky vocals — of "Love in Real Life," Lizzo segued to the familiar, catch-phrase-driven swagger of "Still Bad," which deployed a small army of dancers. Then, for her closer, she unveiled the world premiere of "Don't Make Me Love You," which sounded for all the world like the debut of her Pointer Sisters era.
The cumulative impression was of an artist in transition — knocked off balance by controversies but still in command of her talents. Resilience is her brand, and it showed as the night progressed beyond this set's wobbly start.
7. Mk.gee, "Rockman" and "Alesis" (11/9/24)
An exciting and innovative guitarist, bedroom-pop star and collaborator with the likes of Bon Iver and Omar Apollo, Mk.gee wouldn't seem to be quite ready for the SNL spotlight. But he did cut an intriguing — and usually ominously backlit — figure on its stage, as he performed a deep cut from 2024's Two Star & the Dream Police ("Alesis") and "Rockman," which had come out as a freestanding single three weeks prior to this performance.
Punctuating his raw vocals with jagged yelps and jarring bursts of guitar noise, Mk.gee sounded like no one else who performed in SNL's 50th season. But he didn't seem entirely comfortable, either. He mostly stood still throughout raggedly compelling songs that didn't always jell all the way — that is, until he reached the end of "Alesis" and the guitar thunder became too gnarly and majestic to resist.
6. Billie Eilish, "Birds of a Feather" and "Wildflower" (10/19/24)
Billie Eilish has only been a national figure since 2019, yet the singer has already appeared as an SNL musical guest four times — an indication of both her pop-cultural ubiquity (she's a two-time Oscar winner at 23!) and her willingness to use late-night stages in fun and innovative ways. And, while she's never topped the wild, Fred Astaire-inspired optical illusion she pulled off in her 2019 SNL debut, she came close during her performance of "Birds of a Feather."
Shot from underneath what appeared to be some sort of glass cube (the mystery is part of the fun!) as her brother Finneas played guitar nearby, Eilish cut a swaggering presence against images of a bright-blue, partly cloudy sky — a perfect visual companion to 2024's airiest smash. "Wildflower" felt less eventful, as the singer shifted into languid-ballad mode in front of a darker, more muted, deep-blue backdrop. But she's not one for mailing it in, and she wasn't about to start here.
5. Benson Boone, "Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else" and "Mystical Magical" (5/3/25)
Benson Boone feels like a throwback to the heyday of American Idol, from his alliterative name — it's giving "Bo Bice" — to his glammy, theater-kid vibe. (He even auditioned for the show in 2021, but dropped out early in the competition to focus on his own music.) But let's be real here: Between his elastic voice and his stage gymnastics, this guy would have absolutely dominated American Idol. Had he been around to compete on one of the show's early seasons, his fan army would have made the Claymates look like passive observers.
Luckily for Boone, his SNL debut landed far enough from the release of his signature hit — "Beautiful Things," in his case — that he was able to forgo it entirely. Instead, he got to show off two songs from a new album called American Heart, due out in June. "Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else" played out with charismatic intensity, from the signature backflip that opened the song through a funny interaction with host Quinta Brunson, through countless wails and hip-sways. "Mystical Magical" proved less successful, gymnastics aside, but that's more a byproduct of the song's drippy lyrics ("moonbeam ice cream," really?) than the production itself.
In all, Boone did what he's done in every major televised performance to date: infuse his theatrical power-pop with enough try-hard energy to power a small city. On an SNL stage that's been known to swallow indifferent performers, that's a welcome development.
4. GloRilla, "Yeah Glo!" and "Whatchu Kno About Me"/"Let Her Cook" (1/18/25)
SNL's 50th season went unusually light on rap — where was Doechii?! — with only GloRilla to show for the series' milestone season. (Shaboozey and Jelly Roll have fused country and hip-hop, but that hardly counts on a show that's had little difficulty attracting Kendrick Lamar, Megan Thee Stallion and Travis Scott in recent seasons.)
Fortunately for SNL, and for viewers, GloRilla was more than up to the challenge, delivering a vibrant, movement-rich, smoke-drenched set that stayed forceful and visually compelling, especially in "Yeah Glo!" More live musicians would have helped — a drummer punctuates "Yeah Glo!" while her medley of "Whatchu Kno About Me" and "Let Her Cook" was performed over an intrusive backing track — but GloRilla and her team of dancers more than compensated for their absence.
3. Bad Bunny, "NUEVAYoL" and "PERFuMITO NUEVO (feat. RaiNao)" (5/17/25)
Bad Bunny's two previous appearances as an SNL musical guest produced middle-of-the-pack results as these rankings go; though the Puerto Rican megastar's charisma couldn't help but shine through, his past performances were hampered by poor sound (Season 46) and limited staging (Season 49). Neither issue sprang up this time around, as his vocals sounded sharp and on point — though performed with a backing track rather than a band — while the visuals felt fully considered and exquisitely rendered.
For "NUEVAYoL," Bad Bunny and a team of dancers positioned themselves on a facsimile of a steel beam to re-create a classic archival photo — a clever way of evoking New York City while also introducing motion within a compact space. And in "PERFuMITO NUEVO," Bad Bunny and guest vocalist RaiNao moved alluringly (and told a story!) through a set made up to resemble a public bathroom. Both songs obliterated the limitations of the Studio 8H stage, while taking full advantage of Bad Bunny's copious charisma.
2. Lady Gaga, "Abracadabra" and "Killah" (3/8/25)
It's a shame to have to rank this one at No. 2 — think of it more like No. 1A — because Lady Gaga fully crushed her return to the SNL stage after an eight-and-a-half-year absence. In the wake of a stretch spent acting, performing jazz standards and otherwise steering clear of maximalist pop, Gaga gave the people what they want in both "Abracadabra" and "Killah": wild choreo, wilder eye contact, weird art and a welcome willingness to play with the spaces she'd been given to work with.
That last part sent these performances to someplace special. "Abracadabra" found her and a small army of dancers confined to a showily lit box, where they made a cramped space feel huge. Then, in "Killah," Gaga led a gleefully odd march through SNL's nondescript back hallways before ultimately winding up onstage, on her back, fully spent. She did this while pulling double-duty as host, too — a feat of boundless effort in the pursuit of bold art.
1. Chappell Roan, "Pink Pony Club" and "The Giver" (11/2/24)
For her SNL debut, Chappell Roan checked just about every box imaginable. Her vocals? Dynamic and in complete control, with just the right mix of slyness and bombast. Her costuming? Impeccable throughout, with nods to both drag ("Pink Pony Club") and Hee Haw ("The Giver"). Her band? Crushing it while dressed to the nines. The stage production? Masterful and surprising, with vivid details and copious motion. It was all there.
Roan could have easily dialed back the production after slamming "Pink Pony Club" out of the park, but her second appearance made a bit of news with the world premiere of her first new song since "Good Luck, Babe!" A good-natured, queer-country, service-top anthem, "The Giver" received a grand introduction, complete with glorious outfits, rousing choruses and even a wonderfully strange animated backdrop.
As if she needed the bonus points, Roan then spent a chunk of the closing credits affectionately holding hands with Bowen Yang, who'd lampooned her — while dressed as Moo Deng, no less — in a Weekend Update segment a month earlier. As debuts go, this one will be hard to top. But it'll be a thrill to watch her try.
NOTE: To avoid having to compare apples and oranges, this ranking bypasses the overstuffed SNL 50: The Anniversary Special. But, for the record, the Sabrina Carpenter/Paul Simon performance of "Homeward Bound" was a sweetly mismatched cover of a song first performed on the show in 1976; Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard covered "Nothing Compares 2 U" capably, with the aid of the latter's ripping guitar solo; Adam Sandler performed a shaggy, self-referential, occasionally heartfelt comedy ramble called "50 Years"; Lil Wayne provided a taste of what he'd have pulled off had he been booked for the Super Bowl halftime show, backed in a five-song medley ("Uproar," "Lollipop," "6 Foot 7 Foot," "Mrs. Officer" and "A Milli") by The Roots; and Paul McCartney closed the musical proceedings with a generous, crowd-pleasing medley of Abbey Road favorites "Golden Slumbers," "Carry That Weight" and "The End." All are worth revisiting — or checking out if you skipped the special — but even they pale in comparison to the first six electrifyingly remixed minutes of Questlove's must-see music documentary Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music. (It's streaming on Peacock and it's terrific.)
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