Live from the main stage at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, this is a list of every band, musician, and singer who has performed on Saturday Night Live. Since its premiere in 1975, SNL has had more than 600 unique musical guests. It's a dream gig: familiar stage, intimate crowd, audience of millions - many of whom are hearing you for the very first time. The acts on this list run the gamut in every genre of music, from Chuck Berry to Devo to Peter Tosh to Skid Row to MC Hammer to Crash Test Dummies to Garth Brooks to The Backstreet Boys to Lorde. The bands are listed in reverse chronological order, with the most recent listed first. It includes the date of the appearance - or dates, for those of us lucky enough to be invited to perform more than once.
Because of the show's longevity, Saturday Night Live musical guests are a Who's Who of the most popular musicians of each time period. A look back at the early years of the sketch show reveals frequent repeat appearances from soft rock, folksy kinds of artists like James Taylor, Carly Simon, and Anne Murray. In the 1980s, new wave acts like Men at Work and The Cars stopped by a couple times each. In the 21st Century, it's all hip hop and pop made for clubbing, all Kanye this and Drake that, with only an occasional appearance by a singer-songwriter like Father John Misty or Adele.
11th ep: 1) November 20, 1976; 2) October 29, 1977; 3) March 15, 1980; 4) November 22, 1986; 5) November 17, 1990; 6) May 15, 1993; 7) October 22, 1994; 8) November 4, 2000; 9) May 13, 2006; 10) May 14, 2011; 11) October 13, 2018
Kanye WestHip hop music, Alternative hip hop, Pop music
7th ep: 1) October 1, 2005; 2) September 29, 2007; 3) December 13, 2008; 4) October 2, 2010; 5) May 18, 2013; 6) February 13, 2016; 7) September 29, 2018
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Nicki MinajHip hop music, Synthpop, Hardcore hip hop
3rd ep: 1) January 29, 2011; 2) December 6, 2014; 3) May 19, 2018
8th ep. 1) December 2, 1995; 2) November 6, 1999; 3) February 22, 2003; 4) November 12, 2005; 5) October 13, 2007; 6) April 9, 2011; 7) May 19, 2012; 8) December 17, 2017
