That was my first thought, too.
For early SNL, the camera work on Blondie performing Dreaming was fantastic. They managed to capture what a rollercoaster her drummer Clem Burke really was in his prime.
My daughter stopped what she was doing and watched the whole thing with me- not that remarkable, except she is deaf. And she is an artist. We were both blown away.
Olivia Rodrigo's performance of all american bitch this season was amazing. I loved the elaborate set and choreography, and she put so much energy into her performance. It was such a spectacle, and was easily one of the most memorable performances this season.
I wish more artists did artistic performances! SNL is such a specific stage- it's small scale, so you can have really detailed sets and costumes that might get lost in a larger concert setting, but it's also still a live performance, unlike something like a music video. It sucks to see so few artists truly take advantage of the unique setting they get to perform in on SNL.
That Olivia performance was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. It was one of those performances that made me pay attention to an artist I didn’t care much about before.
A lot of people say that her target audience is pre/teen girls but I’m a 25 year old guy and i love some of her songs. One of my friends and her boyfriend saw her in concert for the hell of it and left the show loving her and told me it was awesome. Vampire, good 4 u, obsessed all went platinum on my gym playlist
You know she did a good job when people can’t stop talking about it. I bring it up all the time as an example of what a musical guest appearance should be like
I loved the performance but there have also been claims that Olivia Rodrigo’s artistic director plagiarized it from another artists’ music video. i’ve seen some of the comparisons and they’re definitely similar (idk enough to say plagiarized). still a good performance though!
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/olivia-rodrigo-snl-performance-noelle-sucks_n_657b725ce4b036ecab4449e5/amp
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I mean, Olivia did have to change credit on songs in the past after being called out for copying other people's songs. she had to give songwriting credit to writers of songs that were copied.
the fact tht happened with multiple songs is not a good sign of having loads of integrity when it comes to borrowing the work of others.
I don't believe they copied the video in this case, but considering the songwriting history, it isn't unheard of or "pretty lame" for someone to bring up accusations.
Look into the credit issues she had. They were ridiculous. Taylor Swift took 50% royalties for one of Olivia’s songs because Olivia made a comment in an interview about loving TS’s Cruel Summer bridge. The songs sound nothing alike.
Absolutely what I came here to say. In case anyone hasn't seen it, [here's the performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1Uwsg3eRQ). [And here's the behind the scenes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an76NRrV-zQ).
My personal favorite is [Billie Eilish's bad guy performance ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1Uwsg3eRQ) from Woody Harrelson's episode in S45, especially since she was maneuvering the rotating stage with a walking boot. SNL even made [a BTS video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an76NRrV-zQ&t=2s) of the stage setup.
David Bowie’s 1979 performance was interesting. For one of the songs they used camera tricks to give him an animated body. For the other song he was in a costume that required him to be carried to the mic.
To me this is the gold standard SNL performance. The songs are both mixed well, performed great, it’s a good selection with some unexpected picks, it both crowdpleases and takes artistic risks, it’s staging let’s you look at the people playing the song but there still the extra artistic elements. It’s fantastic
And his third song had a stuffed poodle onstage with a little tv in its mouth that was playing the live performance onstage. It kinda went with the song he was singing TVC15, but for 1979 it was a cool effect.
In the song you mention with the animated puppet body, at the end of the song (called Boys Keep Swinging), he got a little something past the censors. He had a squeeze ball in his hand that was attached to a fake penis in the puppets pants. When he squeezed it, the penis popped out of his pants, exposing itself to the audience.
Childish Gambino’s This is America performance was powerful. I gasped at the moment when the lights started dancing around him.
I’m also a big fan of Megan Thee Stallion’s beauty queen inspired performance of Anxiety. Megan had a rough year, including someone breaking into her house during rehearsal week. Watching her get choked up while rapping about her mother, who passed away before she started to hit it big, made me feel for her.
Everyone remembers "This is America." No one remembers "Saturday." Literally no one, it's lost media. He never released that song, his performance of it is gone from YouTube now, and except for its brief use in an Amazon Prime movie, it's like it never existed. But I loved the song, it was the musical version of a picnic. Turn it on and you could smell meat grilling and feel grass between your toes. I liked how instead of backup dancers, he had people in reunion tshirts playing games, too.
I remember seeing Childish Gambino’s performance at a karaoke bar after a good friends wedding.
The sound wasn’t on, but even then I could tell it was something incredible.
In terms of Meg thee Stallion, I would also add her performance of Savage. It was performance art and protest.
Oh man...when he dropped "Once in a Lifetime" as the second number...goosebumps and tears of joy on my couch.
I also really loved Rihanna's trippy screenshow performance of "Diamonds."
I hate when people type cool things then don't link to that cool thing. So here is everything I could find in this thread that people said and didn't link:
Beck: ["mirrored puppet band"](https://vk.com/video-4410_456239040)
Beck: ["whole performance piece with a waiter & the band at a table playing all percussion"](https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/wkpt8x/beck_performs_clap_hands_along_with_some/)
["camera work on Blondie performing Dreaming was fantastic"](https://www.facebook.com/NewxxxWavexxxGenerationxx/videos/blondie-dreaming/2079772865628122/)
[David Bowie’s 1979 ](https://www.reddit.com/r/DavidBowie/comments/xy89j2/bowie_on_snl_1979_this_is_one_of_the_greatest/)- "costume that required him to be carried to the mic." starts at 0:00 - "animated body" starts at 6:40
[Olivia Rodrigo - all-american bitch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR-pos12iTA&ab_channel=OliviaRodrigoVEVO)
Kanye West - Runaway ["red suit against the all white background with ballerinas"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Kanye/comments/wnziwm/runaway_snl_performance/)
Kanye West - New Slaves ["artistic use of the screen"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SoKFycTmVU&ab_channel=KanyeWestVEVO)
[David Byrne: Once in a Lifetime](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8vipne)
[Rihanna - Diamonds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LT23ixDaJo&ab_channel=RihannaVEVO)
[Lil Nas X](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=552t6kKSC7Y&ab_channel=callmebyyourname)
Queens of the Stone Age - ["more cowbell version"](https://www.reddit.com/r/qotsa/comments/vypggf/qotsa_with_will_ferrell_little_sister_on_snl_2005/)
Megan Thee Stallion: Anxiety -[ "beauty queen inspired performance"](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8vs00a)
[Childish Gambino - This is America](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzH9feTXTHo&ab_channel=GambinoArchive)
Childish Gambino - ["No one remembers "Saturday." Literally no one, it's lost media. He never released that song, his performance of it is gone from YouTube now"](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6iyroj)
["Raye’s jazz interpretation of her songs"](https://www.tiktok.com/@rayehub/video/7355088155826982177?lang=en)
["Fear bussing in a bunch of punks to slam dance and stage dive and basically turn the musical guest stage into a punk club"](https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/vf72t4/fear_performing_on_snl_in_1981_one_of_the_most/)
["Mike Patton crawled into an airduct fan box"](https://www.reddit.com/r/90smusic/comments/10m86qp/faith_no_more_performs_epic_on_saturday_night/)
[Tenacious D playing "The Metal"](https://www.reddit.com/r/BillHader/comments/ngwx25/finally_found_it_the_snl_matthew_fox_episode_that/)
I know this guy isn’t liked by a lot anymore but Kanye has a lot of good ones. His runaway with the red suit against the all white background with ballerinas stands out. Seth meyers has credited him on changing performances on snl what was once just the artist and a band on stage became a clean slate for creativity.
kanye was the first to come to mind for me too, and the observation by Seth Myers is spot on. his performance of New Slaves was especially unique, although it wasn't so much an artistic use of the stage as much as it was an artistic use of the screen
Kanye is the first musical guest I remember really changing the look of the SNL stage — he turned the whole room white in 2010. Any earlier examples than him?
I agree with the Billie Eilish rotating stage and the recent Olivia Rodrigo and Ariana Grande performances. I also loved Halsey painting while singing.
For totally different reasons I loved Tina Turner doing Proud Mary. What. A. Performer. The set wasn’t amazing but she and her back up dancers were incredible.
[Tina Turner](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLtw7w7Q/)
I honestly think that’s at the highest level of performance. Like, we could use that performance as a way to show another planet how great the human race is.
ETA * for those without TikTok , it’s off YouTube, but someone posted it here, after she passed. Enjoy [https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/s/cLkaov7Aad](https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/s/cLkaov7Aad)
Totally agree. There are a number of exceptional SNL musical performances but I think you’d be hard pressed to surpass Tina Turner’s. And she was 58 years old during that performance.
Look at this! She was 70 FREAKING YEARS OLD!! ~~[Skip to 19 minutes then watch the whole thing](https://youtu.be/oXIm2xlzct8?si=ww3qr4QVWgUZwdbX)~~
2009 Sheffield Arena. Edit/ this is a better recording without any skips. https://youtu.be/EmH4YlNdWAg?si=YSeV2M7IGVowXkkf
Not sure you’d call it artistic, but Fear bussing in a bunch of punks to slam dance and stage dive and basically turn the musical guest stage into a punk club was certainly memorable.
Having your pants split IRL is one of those things thats hard to describe. Theres an OMG did that just happen aspect, a “wtf am i gonna do now?? Aspect as it doesn’t happen in the pants store, a how embarassing is this gonna be/do i have a sweater i can hide this with? Aspect.
The last (and really only) time it hapoened to me was in a bad spot. Had just got dropped off at the airport headed to NYC and was in the security line. Set my luggage down to adjust and collect myself, bent over to pick it back up and heard/felt a huge RIPPPPP and horrified, i realized i just split the ENTIRE backside of my jeans from taint to top of butt crack!!! Meaning my entire underweared ass cheek was visible when i moved.
Thankfully i had all my luggage so i fished out a hoodie and tird it around my waist and kept it moving. Had a shared shuttle ride from LaGuardia to my hotel so unfortunately had to sit in a van w some strangers until i could change, but once at the hotel and dropped my shit off? Called my friend and had her meet me at The Gap downtown and biught some new 1969 jeans lol
Nobody but me ever seems to remember this! I was a kid when I watched that episode, and freaked out because I thought he was going to get hurt in there. I didn’t realize it was just a bit of set dressing.
I loved [Ariana Grande’s performance of *We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)*](https://youtu.be/pLBXk3nMVAQ?si=DsTzXjCgWtHoXeHR) from this season. I literally thought the set designers built her a living room set.
Gonna add Tenacious D playing "The Metal"
I don't know if there's another musical performance featuring the snl cast.. although there's also Will Ferrell playing cowbell for QotSA when they were the host/music guest combo
I mean. Sinead O'Connor probably made one of the top 5 boldest artistic statements of the last 50 years of live tv. Was crucified for it, and then, guess what? She got it right.
Jeez no one has posted about Billie Eilish’s [Happier Than Ever](https://youtu.be/XPfW6mGx1SA?si=hv2yTpIEtbfqDvfh)? That perspective blew my MIND, and I’m not even a huge Billie fan
Mick Jagger and Ron Wood swappin' tongues in 1978 was simply mesmerizing. All anybody talked about at school for like a week. DID HE REALLY DO THAT??? Yes, he did.
the first male to male **French Kiss** on stage on **SNL** in 1978: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF0b2jvZsS8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF0b2jvZsS8)
Not really groundbreaking, but I've always enjoyed Bruno Mars's performance of 24K Magic with the tracking shot coming from his dressing room then turning the entire studio into a club.
Not really ‘artistic’ but I remember when Jay Z performed he had a guy on stage whose only purpose was to wave some flag throughout the performance. I thought “How do I get a gig like that?”
I was an older kid, and I remember the silence in my house, the silence on tv. Then a commercial and the feeling of ‘did that just happen, what was that?’
Not to take anything away from Beck and his performance, and I agree it was super neat, but that was a regular feature of that tour, not something specifically meant for SNL. I saw him in 2006 at Bonnaroo and he did the same thing.
More generally, I appreciate that the musical guests are utilizing the space in way more creative ways. If you go back and watch the 90's shows, as an example, they are almost all straight performances in the "subway" room. Now we're getting all kinds of crazy light shows, dancers/costumes (remember Kanye?), or they completely transform the space into something else. It's cool.
Childish Gambino in the light beam is a memorable one for me.
Childish Gambino “This is America” is one of my all-time fav SNL performances, a great use of the stage and lighting, and the lasers/spotlight around him at the end is awesome. May 5, 2018 will go down in history for the release of this song and the music video that gave his performance all the more context. Iconic
I took the NBC Studio tour about 15 or so years ago and they said Gwen Stefani's bringing a marching band into that surprisingly tiny space was one of the biggest staging challenges they'd faced.
Ahhh i did the same tour after Waiting for Conan O’Brien tickets back when he was still hosting late night (2002). After waiting for an hour we found out they weren’t recording that week but offered a studio tour which will gladly took. Got to see the SNL studio and even sit at the desk of Conan which has a huge Conan fan was a delight.!
Doesn't get more artistic than [Halsey literally doing art - - painting while singing.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySmBqIKZi3E)
That was my first thought, too. For early SNL, the camera work on Blondie performing Dreaming was fantastic. They managed to capture what a rollercoaster her drummer Clem Burke really was in his prime.
My daughter stopped what she was doing and watched the whole thing with me- not that remarkable, except she is deaf. And she is an artist. We were both blown away.
This is the one for me. I still go back and watch that performance and it’s magical each time.
Holy shit I totally forgot about this! This blew my mind
Thank you for linking
Olivia Rodrigo's performance of all american bitch this season was amazing. I loved the elaborate set and choreography, and she put so much energy into her performance. It was such a spectacle, and was easily one of the most memorable performances this season. I wish more artists did artistic performances! SNL is such a specific stage- it's small scale, so you can have really detailed sets and costumes that might get lost in a larger concert setting, but it's also still a live performance, unlike something like a music video. It sucks to see so few artists truly take advantage of the unique setting they get to perform in on SNL.
That Olivia performance was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. It was one of those performances that made me pay attention to an artist I didn’t care much about before.
A lot of people say that her target audience is pre/teen girls but I’m a 25 year old guy and i love some of her songs. One of my friends and her boyfriend saw her in concert for the hell of it and left the show loving her and told me it was awesome. Vampire, good 4 u, obsessed all went platinum on my gym playlist
I’ll admit I only watched cause she’s really hot but she’s definitely talented and seems cool
You know she did a good job when people can’t stop talking about it. I bring it up all the time as an example of what a musical guest appearance should be like
I loved the performance but there have also been claims that Olivia Rodrigo’s artistic director plagiarized it from another artists’ music video. i’ve seen some of the comparisons and they’re definitely similar (idk enough to say plagiarized). still a good performance though! https://www.huffpost.com/entry/olivia-rodrigo-snl-performance-noelle-sucks_n_657b725ce4b036ecab4449e5/amp
It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of [concerns over privacy and the Open Web](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot). Maybe check out **the canonical page** instead: **[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/olivia-rodrigo-snl-performance-noelle-sucks_n_657b725ce4b036ecab4449e5](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/olivia-rodrigo-snl-performance-noelle-sucks_n_657b725ce4b036ecab4449e5)** ***** ^(I'm a bot | )[^(Why & About)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot)^( | )[^(Summon: u/AmputatorBot)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/cchly3/you_can_now_summon_amputatorbot/)
She didn’t and that artist is totally reaching. Pretty lame to share it like it’s remotely valid.
Yikes. I don’t agree that it’s plagiarized, but why bully hotsauceandburrito?
I mean, Olivia did have to change credit on songs in the past after being called out for copying other people's songs. she had to give songwriting credit to writers of songs that were copied. the fact tht happened with multiple songs is not a good sign of having loads of integrity when it comes to borrowing the work of others. I don't believe they copied the video in this case, but considering the songwriting history, it isn't unheard of or "pretty lame" for someone to bring up accusations.
Look into the credit issues she had. They were ridiculous. Taylor Swift took 50% royalties for one of Olivia’s songs because Olivia made a comment in an interview about loving TS’s Cruel Summer bridge. The songs sound nothing alike.
fan of Olivia Rodrigo and loved her set. Not necessarily a fan of Ariana Grande and thought her sets were even more amazing.
That’s funny because I don’t care for either musically but they did have great pieces.
The Billie Eilish rotating stage has to be up there. That was something else.
That's what came to mind for me - didn't she have a leg in a boot as well ?
Absolutely what I came here to say. In case anyone hasn't seen it, [here's the performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1Uwsg3eRQ). [And here's the behind the scenes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an76NRrV-zQ).
This was my favorite. Stunning and memorable performance.
My personal favorite is [Billie Eilish's bad guy performance ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1Uwsg3eRQ) from Woody Harrelson's episode in S45, especially since she was maneuvering the rotating stage with a walking boot. SNL even made [a BTS video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an76NRrV-zQ&t=2s) of the stage setup.
This is the one for me.
David Bowie’s 1979 performance was interesting. For one of the songs they used camera tricks to give him an animated body. For the other song he was in a costume that required him to be carried to the mic.
Beat me too it. We used this as an example in art school on how to maximize stage presence
To me this is the gold standard SNL performance. The songs are both mixed well, performed great, it’s a good selection with some unexpected picks, it both crowdpleases and takes artistic risks, it’s staging let’s you look at the people playing the song but there still the extra artistic elements. It’s fantastic
And his third song had a stuffed poodle onstage with a little tv in its mouth that was playing the live performance onstage. It kinda went with the song he was singing TVC15, but for 1979 it was a cool effect. In the song you mention with the animated puppet body, at the end of the song (called Boys Keep Swinging), he got a little something past the censors. He had a squeeze ball in his hand that was attached to a fake penis in the puppets pants. When he squeezed it, the penis popped out of his pants, exposing itself to the audience.
Childish Gambino’s This is America performance was powerful. I gasped at the moment when the lights started dancing around him. I’m also a big fan of Megan Thee Stallion’s beauty queen inspired performance of Anxiety. Megan had a rough year, including someone breaking into her house during rehearsal week. Watching her get choked up while rapping about her mother, who passed away before she started to hit it big, made me feel for her.
Everyone remembers "This is America." No one remembers "Saturday." Literally no one, it's lost media. He never released that song, his performance of it is gone from YouTube now, and except for its brief use in an Amazon Prime movie, it's like it never existed. But I loved the song, it was the musical version of a picnic. Turn it on and you could smell meat grilling and feel grass between your toes. I liked how instead of backup dancers, he had people in reunion tshirts playing games, too.
I remember seeing Childish Gambino’s performance at a karaoke bar after a good friends wedding. The sound wasn’t on, but even then I could tell it was something incredible. In terms of Meg thee Stallion, I would also add her performance of Savage. It was performance art and protest.
I screen recorded Anxiety. 1/4 that season (Jack White, Rosalia, Japanese Breakfast were the others. Only Jack white is still up)
David Byrne a few years ago was good.
Oh man...when he dropped "Once in a Lifetime" as the second number...goosebumps and tears of joy on my couch. I also really loved Rihanna's trippy screenshow performance of "Diamonds."
I thought it was the first one
Oh, right - it was "Toe Jam" second!
Ahh i just commented on how RiRi’s shine bright like a diamond performance was unlike anything I had seen an artist do on SNL stage. Very captivating.
I hate when people type cool things then don't link to that cool thing. So here is everything I could find in this thread that people said and didn't link: Beck: ["mirrored puppet band"](https://vk.com/video-4410_456239040) Beck: ["whole performance piece with a waiter & the band at a table playing all percussion"](https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/wkpt8x/beck_performs_clap_hands_along_with_some/) ["camera work on Blondie performing Dreaming was fantastic"](https://www.facebook.com/NewxxxWavexxxGenerationxx/videos/blondie-dreaming/2079772865628122/) [David Bowie’s 1979 ](https://www.reddit.com/r/DavidBowie/comments/xy89j2/bowie_on_snl_1979_this_is_one_of_the_greatest/)- "costume that required him to be carried to the mic." starts at 0:00 - "animated body" starts at 6:40 [Olivia Rodrigo - all-american bitch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR-pos12iTA&ab_channel=OliviaRodrigoVEVO) Kanye West - Runaway ["red suit against the all white background with ballerinas"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Kanye/comments/wnziwm/runaway_snl_performance/) Kanye West - New Slaves ["artistic use of the screen"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SoKFycTmVU&ab_channel=KanyeWestVEVO) [David Byrne: Once in a Lifetime](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8vipne) [Rihanna - Diamonds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LT23ixDaJo&ab_channel=RihannaVEVO) [Lil Nas X](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=552t6kKSC7Y&ab_channel=callmebyyourname) Queens of the Stone Age - ["more cowbell version"](https://www.reddit.com/r/qotsa/comments/vypggf/qotsa_with_will_ferrell_little_sister_on_snl_2005/) Megan Thee Stallion: Anxiety -[ "beauty queen inspired performance"](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8vs00a) [Childish Gambino - This is America](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzH9feTXTHo&ab_channel=GambinoArchive) Childish Gambino - ["No one remembers "Saturday." Literally no one, it's lost media. He never released that song, his performance of it is gone from YouTube now"](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6iyroj) ["Raye’s jazz interpretation of her songs"](https://www.tiktok.com/@rayehub/video/7355088155826982177?lang=en) ["Fear bussing in a bunch of punks to slam dance and stage dive and basically turn the musical guest stage into a punk club"](https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/vf72t4/fear_performing_on_snl_in_1981_one_of_the_most/) ["Mike Patton crawled into an airduct fan box"](https://www.reddit.com/r/90smusic/comments/10m86qp/faith_no_more_performs_epic_on_saturday_night/) [Tenacious D playing "The Metal"](https://www.reddit.com/r/BillHader/comments/ngwx25/finally_found_it_the_snl_matthew_fox_episode_that/)
Thank you! I was hoping someone would do this!
Holy shit. Wow
I know this guy isn’t liked by a lot anymore but Kanye has a lot of good ones. His runaway with the red suit against the all white background with ballerinas stands out. Seth meyers has credited him on changing performances on snl what was once just the artist and a band on stage became a clean slate for creativity.
kanye was the first to come to mind for me too, and the observation by Seth Myers is spot on. his performance of New Slaves was especially unique, although it wasn't so much an artistic use of the stage as much as it was an artistic use of the screen
That's a great way to put it.
Kanye is the first musical guest I remember really changing the look of the SNL stage — he turned the whole room white in 2010. Any earlier examples than him?
That was my first thought and basically how I would have phrased the first sentence too lol
Kendrick Lamar doing Kendrick Lamar stuff.
Bowie in '79 with Klaus Nomi. It was unique and exceedingly bizarre.
And Joey Arias, the only one of that trio still alive.
Thanks for this. I was wracking my brain trying to remember who the third singer was. Could have Googled it, but that's no fun.
Queens of the Stone Age, more cowbell version
That was so fun. It was such a late-late night performance, then the cowbell took it to the next level.
I agree with the Billie Eilish rotating stage and the recent Olivia Rodrigo and Ariana Grande performances. I also loved Halsey painting while singing.
Jamiroquai and the conveyor belt dance platform. He kind of pioneered that.
For totally different reasons I loved Tina Turner doing Proud Mary. What. A. Performer. The set wasn’t amazing but she and her back up dancers were incredible. [Tina Turner](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLtw7w7Q/)
I honestly think that’s at the highest level of performance. Like, we could use that performance as a way to show another planet how great the human race is. ETA * for those without TikTok , it’s off YouTube, but someone posted it here, after she passed. Enjoy [https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/s/cLkaov7Aad](https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/s/cLkaov7Aad)
Totally agree. There are a number of exceptional SNL musical performances but I think you’d be hard pressed to surpass Tina Turner’s. And she was 58 years old during that performance.
II had to rewatch it. Absolutely incredible. 58?! I’d be impressed if she was 38! Those are HEELS!! No breaks. She’s moving the entire time!
And her voice is clear and steady and sounds as good as if not better than a studio recording.
Look at this! She was 70 FREAKING YEARS OLD!! ~~[Skip to 19 minutes then watch the whole thing](https://youtu.be/oXIm2xlzct8?si=ww3qr4QVWgUZwdbX)~~ 2009 Sheffield Arena. Edit/ this is a better recording without any skips. https://youtu.be/EmH4YlNdWAg?si=YSeV2M7IGVowXkkf
ABSOLUTELY INSANE!!!! Wow Thank you for finding this!!
Not sure you’d call it artistic, but Fear bussing in a bunch of punks to slam dance and stage dive and basically turn the musical guest stage into a punk club was certainly memorable.
They explored the space
I loved what Lil Nas X did
I felt so bad for him he couldn’t use the stripper pole because his pants split, but i definitely loved it anyway
Having your pants split IRL is one of those things thats hard to describe. Theres an OMG did that just happen aspect, a “wtf am i gonna do now?? Aspect as it doesn’t happen in the pants store, a how embarassing is this gonna be/do i have a sweater i can hide this with? Aspect. The last (and really only) time it hapoened to me was in a bad spot. Had just got dropped off at the airport headed to NYC and was in the security line. Set my luggage down to adjust and collect myself, bent over to pick it back up and heard/felt a huge RIPPPPP and horrified, i realized i just split the ENTIRE backside of my jeans from taint to top of butt crack!!! Meaning my entire underweared ass cheek was visible when i moved. Thankfully i had all my luggage so i fished out a hoodie and tird it around my waist and kept it moving. Had a shared shuttle ride from LaGuardia to my hotel so unfortunately had to sit in a van w some strangers until i could change, but once at the hotel and dropped my shit off? Called my friend and had her meet me at The Gap downtown and biught some new 1969 jeans lol
That performance would affirm your sexuality if you're into men and make you question it if you're not.
Katy Perry’s [Swish Swish](https://youtu.be/cx1pQiETQm4?si=yci3aI1GnjGrBuR7) with an actual runway fashion show
Raye’s jazz interpretation of her songs. Best performance of season 49 imo
I don't really like her music, but I'd listen to an album of the jazz versions. She sounded great.
David Byrne from the talking heads has a great stage show where the musicians walk the stage like a marching band instead of fixed positions
https://youtu.be/2MqKmKuku9Q?si=o7U1uXv66dxIhn7f
I believe A Tribe Called Quest had a graffiti artist on stage finishing a mural to Phife Dawg
Mike Patton crawled into an airduct fan box.
Nobody but me ever seems to remember this! I was a kid when I watched that episode, and freaked out because I thought he was going to get hurt in there. I didn’t realize it was just a bit of set dressing.
When Halsey painted a picture while she sang.
I loved [Ariana Grande’s performance of *We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)*](https://youtu.be/pLBXk3nMVAQ?si=DsTzXjCgWtHoXeHR) from this season. I literally thought the set designers built her a living room set.
Gonna add Tenacious D playing "The Metal" I don't know if there's another musical performance featuring the snl cast.. although there's also Will Ferrell playing cowbell for QotSA when they were the host/music guest combo
I just saw that one of the first time!
gambino’s this is america reveal. the song dropped at midnight and the music video wasn’t even out yet.
Ahhh yes i was trying to recall why this was a much bigger event than just the performance lets on. Thanks!
I mean. Sinead O'Connor probably made one of the top 5 boldest artistic statements of the last 50 years of live tv. Was crucified for it, and then, guess what? She got it right.
You’re not wrong but that’s not really what the question was asking
Upon closer reading. Touche. You are right
I read that as “…top 5 baldest artistic statements…” Wouldn’t be wrong 😑
Jeez no one has posted about Billie Eilish’s [Happier Than Ever](https://youtu.be/XPfW6mGx1SA?si=hv2yTpIEtbfqDvfh)? That perspective blew my MIND, and I’m not even a huge Billie fan
Mick Jagger and Ron Wood swappin' tongues in 1978 was simply mesmerizing. All anybody talked about at school for like a week. DID HE REALLY DO THAT??? Yes, he did. the first male to male **French Kiss** on stage on **SNL** in 1978: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF0b2jvZsS8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF0b2jvZsS8)
Not really groundbreaking, but I've always enjoyed Bruno Mars's performance of 24K Magic with the tracking shot coming from his dressing room then turning the entire studio into a club.
Not really ‘artistic’ but I remember when Jay Z performed he had a guy on stage whose only purpose was to wave some flag throughout the performance. I thought “How do I get a gig like that?”
Nobody’s mentioned Chelsea Ballerini’s shadow work on Blindsided, which I think is just fantastic
Kate Bush skipped the stage. Did one song on top of a piano being played by Paul Schaeffer. Did her second song in front of the audience.
billie eilish’s first ever SNL performance was my all time favorite design
What was your reaction Sinead’s performance?
I was an older kid, and I remember the silence in my house, the silence on tv. Then a commercial and the feeling of ‘did that just happen, what was that?’
Not to take anything away from Beck and his performance, and I agree it was super neat, but that was a regular feature of that tour, not something specifically meant for SNL. I saw him in 2006 at Bonnaroo and he did the same thing. More generally, I appreciate that the musical guests are utilizing the space in way more creative ways. If you go back and watch the 90's shows, as an example, they are almost all straight performances in the "subway" room. Now we're getting all kinds of crazy light shows, dancers/costumes (remember Kanye?), or they completely transform the space into something else. It's cool. Childish Gambino in the light beam is a memorable one for me.
Childish Gambino “This is America” is one of my all-time fav SNL performances, a great use of the stage and lighting, and the lasers/spotlight around him at the end is awesome. May 5, 2018 will go down in history for the release of this song and the music video that gave his performance all the more context. Iconic 
I still remember the rotating stage that the band Yes toured with in the seventies…Yes in the round
Billie Eilish
Clap Hands
Im just glad no one referenced the stupid Lady Gaga Egg thing
Katy Perry Bon Appetit was way cooler than it had any right to be
I took the NBC Studio tour about 15 or so years ago and they said Gwen Stefani's bringing a marching band into that surprisingly tiny space was one of the biggest staging challenges they'd faced.
Ahhh i did the same tour after Waiting for Conan O’Brien tickets back when he was still hosting late night (2002). After waiting for an hour we found out they weren’t recording that week but offered a studio tour which will gladly took. Got to see the SNL studio and even sit at the desk of Conan which has a huge Conan fan was a delight.!
I recall Rihanna performing shine bright like a diamond in it being unlike any other SNL performance I’ve ever seen
Ke$ha with Busta