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It doesn’t get any bigger than Saturday Night Live.
Naturally, some acts wind up better than others.
But which among them deserves recognition as the greatest ever?
In commemoration of SNL’s legacy, here are the 32 greatest Saturday Night Live performances.
Frank Ocean (feat.
(They were forced to take them down before they went live.)
It doesn’t stop their performance of “Bulls on Parade” from going so hard, however.
Arctic Monkeys (March 11, 2006)
Don’t you dare yawn in front of Alex Turner.
A year later, the group released the rollicking Favourite Worst Nightmare, which left no one fatigued.
Florence + the Machine (November 19, 2011)
Florence Welch probably didn’t need that microphone.
In November that year, the group cemented their moment with a live performance on SNL.
The occasion happened on February 14, 1981.
Fittingly, the song has the group rhetorically ask “Are you ready for this?”
It helps that “bad guy” is a banger to boot.
Madonna (January 16, 1993)
Only Madonna could turn 30 Rock into a thumping ’90s-era nightclub.
But really, when you’re Madonna, you don’tneedflashy gimmicks like revealing costumes or outlandish stage design.
All that’s needed is some good music to get us dancing in our living rooms.
The band lit up SNL with a rendition of their songs “Alive” and “Porch.”
Pearl Jam fans to this day love the performance, most of all Dave Abbruzzese’s drumming.
Sabrina Carpenter (May 19, 2024)
Summer 2024 had legit heated competition for song of the summer.
Taylor Swift (November 13, 2021)
Taylor Swift is no stranger to Saturday Night Live.
As a budding pop star, she was already a powerhouse talent even back then.
Dr. Dre (feat.
But “Mirrors” is close to perfect.
There’s just something about the song performed live that makes it feel alive in its romantic mystique.
If only SNL’s audio engineers calibrated Justin’s microphone correctly…
9.
He also performed “Scared to Live” a darkly foreboding title going into the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eventually the world returned to gathering indoors.
On stage, the group paid tribute with a mural of Phife towering behind the surviving members.
On that night, Costello was SNL’s musical guest.
By 1999, the ban was lifted.
This time, it was actually planned.
(During rehearsals, O’Connor held up a photo of a refugee child.)
Nirvana (January 11, 1992)
Long live Seattle grunge.
FEAR (October 31, 1981)
Talk about trick or treat.
Music or mayhem, it doesn’t matter.
With FEAR, they’re one and the same.
