Miley Cyrus teamed up with Brittany Howard to cover “Nothing Compares 2 U,” the Prince-written hit made famous by Sinéad O’Connor, on Sunday night’s (Feb. 16) SNL50: The Anniversary Special.

Cyrus and Howard belted the song, with the Alabama Shakes frontwoman offering some extra soulfulness on the guitar for the powerful cover. O’Connor famously brought her tender-but-strong vocal to the breakup ballad, and Cyrus added some rasp to the well-known melody.

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While O’Connor was a two-time musical guest on SNL, the late Irish singer never performed her biggest hit on the sketch comedy show; “Nothing Compares 2 U” spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990. O’Connor performed on SNL in 1992, when she covered Bob Marley’s song “War” a cappella and held up a photo of then-Pope John Paul II at the end and tore it in half after singing altered lyrics about child abuse. She announced, “Fight the real enemy!,” as she tore the picture. The performance faced backlash in the moment, and O’Connor never performed on the show again before her death in 2023.

Cyrus and Howard’s choice of song was likely a nod to O’Connor’s notorious-but-since-vindicated performance on the 50-year-old show.

Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Simon opened the SNL50 special Sunday night with a duet of “Homeward Bound.” That song reached No. 5 on the Hot 100 in 1966, when it was originally recorded by Simon & Garfunkel and released on the duo’s Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme album — and Simon also once sang it with George Harrison on an episode of SNL.

SNL50: The Anniversary Special is airing Sunday night, following Friday’s SNL50: The Homecoming Concert on Friday night.

Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Simon performed a duet of “Homeward Bound” to kick off SNL50: The Anniversary Special on Sunday night (Feb. 16). The song reached No. 5 on the Hot 100 in 1966, when it was originally recorded by Simon & Garfunkel and released on the duo’s Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme album — but Simon once sang it with George Harrison on an episode of Saturday Night Live.

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“Ladies and gentlemen, this is Sabrina,” Simon said, introducing the Short n’ Sweet pop star to the live audience in Studio 8H.

“This is the one and only Paul Simon,” Carpenter said.

“I sang this song with George Harrison on Saturday night live in 1976,” recalled Simon.

“I was not born then, and neither were my parents,” Carpenter, who would later appear in a sketch, quipped. (The 25-year-old singer was born in May 1999.)

Simon started the song, with Carpenter coming in at the end of verse one, harmonizing at the lyric “My suitcase and guitar in hand/ And every stop is neatly planned/ For a poet and a one-man band.” They continued to sing together through the chorus. Carpenter took lead on verse two, but swapped the line “cigarettes and magazines” for a rewrite: “airport lounges and magazines.”

Steve Martin, following their performance with a short opening monologue that Martin Short popped in to join, joked that SNL50 had front-loaded the show — featuring cast members past and present, a long list of famous past hosts and unannounced cameos — with all the night’s big talent.

The three-hour special with SNL alumni celebrating 50 years of sketch comedy aired live from New York City on NBC and Peacock beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Ahead of the SNL50 television program was Friday night’s SNL50: The Homecoming Concert at Radio City Music Hall, hosted by Jimmy Fallon. Cher, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, Miley Cyrus, Robyn, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Jack White, Backstreet Boys, Jelly Roll, Bonnie Raitt and more were on the lineup, with Questlove and The Roots backing up multiple acts.

Watch a clip of the “Simon & Carpenter” version of “Homeward Bound” below, courtesy of SNL’s Instagram.

Este Haim has an especially gleeful photo up on Instagram that hints at an engagement to reported beau Jonathan Levin, tech entrepreneur and CEO of Chainalysis.

Este, one third of sister band Haim with Danielle and Alana, posted a selfie that flashed what looks to be a diamond on her left finger on Thursday (Feb. 13). In the picture, she’s wearing a baby blue “I’M TAKEN” T-shirt and grinning with her eyes closed. While she didn’t caption the photo update, she replied to a comment that said, “Oh she’s TAKEN taken” with “TAKEN IS RIGHT,” and said “thank you” when congratulated. More congratulations messages poured in on the post.

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Billboard reached out to a representative for Haim for comment on Saturday, but did not immediately receive a response.

Since posting the ring picture, Este’s followed up with a post featuring a picture of herself and one with her sisters, and a video clip of TikToker Harry Daniels crooning “No Body, No Crime” to the trio — an impromptu moment that had them grooving along and chiming in with the lyric “She was with me, dude.” (Haim is featured on the country-crime track from Taylor Swift’s Evermore album; Este is named in its verses.)

People reports that Este uploaded an Instagram Story on Valentine’s Day of a FaceTime screenshot with Levin. “happy valentine’s day i love you j” was typewritten on the picture.

While she hasn’t publicly spoken about their relationship, the couple have been photographed together at events including Kansas City Chiefs games and the U.S. Open, which they attended with Swift, and celebrating Swift’s birthday in 2023.

Kid Rock showed some respect for Kendrick Lamar‘s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance in an appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher. He also said he doesn’t think it would’ve happened without the NFL’s DEI initiatives.

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“To put it nicely, it wasn’t my cup of tea, but I got to respect it,” he told Maher on the Valentine’s Day episode of Real Time. “And here’s why. You know, I grew up loving, emulating hip-hop, all things hip-hop — break dancing, deejaying, graffiti, rapping, and so I understand the culture a little bit more than most. And when I say most, of course, I mean white people.”

Kid Rock continued, “So when you’re watching it, after, there’s a lot of things going through your head. You know, everyone’s like, ‘That sucked,’ this, that and the other. I’m like, man, this kid pretty much came out figuratively with both middle fingers in the air, doing what he does for the people who love what he does, unapologetically. And I don’t think he gives a frog’s fat a– what anyone thinks about it.”

“So I go, huh, it’s pretty much how I built my whole career. I gotta respect it,” said Kid Rock, who recently performed in support of Donald Trump’s inauguration and said the president is “one of the greatest men to ever walk the Earth” and “screams ‘American Badass,’ just by the way he walks,” and professed his love for Trump again during his conversation with Maher on Friday.

Kid Rock then attempted to theorize how Lamar — a frequent Billboard chart topper and 22-time Grammy Award winner, and the top Grammy winner this year (with five wins, including record and song of the year) — got invited to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show, which made history as the most-watched Halftime Show of all time, with 133.5 million viewers.

“How did he get there?” he wondered out loud. “I’ve heard nobody answer this question. How did he get that gig? Jay-Z. What happened there? I think Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar should both send Colin Kaepernick a Bundt cake and a six-pack of beer and a ‘thank you’ note with a bunch of money in it because without him kneeling and getting everyone’s panties in a bunch over the anthem, self-included, I don’t think that happens.”

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Maher started to move the conversation along at that point, but Kid Rock kept going.

“And by the way, one more point,” Kid Rock said. “This was the epitome of DEI blowing up. Because the NFL was all this DEI, end racism, all this stuff. They got Jay-Z in there booking this. Kendrick Lamar goes out there and basically turns DEI into an IED. It’s all Black people, or all people of color, speaking to his crowd, in the hood, Black people. It was like the most exclusive thing ever and I’m like, ‘F— yeah, that’s awesome.’ I’m laughing my a– off.”

Later in Friday’s interview, when asked his about thoughts on democrats, Kid Rock reminded Maher he’d also once performed (but didn’t vote) for Barack Obama, and told him, “Half my band’s liberal, or gay, or Black, or this. I have one of the most diverse bands out there. Not because of this DEI s—. Just because they’re the best at what they do. We all love each other and get along.”

As the conversation shifted over to Kid Rock’s upcoming tour dates, he spoke of the need for an upheaval in the concert ticket business. The TICKET Act, a ticketing reform law meant to clean up the concert industry, was recently revived in the U.S. Senate after nearly becoming law in 2024. The TICKET Act would introduce mandatory all-in pricing, require refunds for canceled events and ban speculative ticket sales.

“In the last however long, it’s complete horse s—,” Kid Rock said of what it’s currently like to purchase a concert ticket, adding that “the customers get screwed.”

“What we have to really look at right now is what’s going on in some of these European markets, like France. They basically put a price cap on reselling a ticket of like 10 or 15%,” he suggested.

In another clip from the show, which aired during the “Overtime” segment and can be watched below, Kid Rock confirmed that he’s got a gospel album in the works.

“Early beginnings now,” he told Maher. “Doing a gospel album with my old friend Rick Rubin.”

Rubin previously produced Kid Rock’s 2010 album Born Free, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Drake and PartyNextDoor’s new album has already setting records on Apple Music following its Valentine’s Day release.

After dropping on Friday (Feb. 14), the duo’s years-in-the-making project, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, has broken the record for the biggest R&B/soul album in Apple Music’s history by first-day streams worldwide.

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Billboard has reached out to Apple Music for more details.

$ome $exy $ongs 4 U marks Drake’s first full album since 2023’s For All the Dogs, which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It’s also his first major project since his explosive rap feud with Kendrick Lamar, which recently saw K. Dot take aim at the Toronto superstar during the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Feb. 9, performing his Billboard Hot 100-topping diss track “Not Like Us” in front of more than 100 million viewers.’

The 21-track album, with a 74-minute runtime, follows PartyNextDoor’s P4, released in 2024.

Earlier in the week, Drake brought out PND during a concert in Melbourne, where the OVO signee surprised the Australian crowd on Drake’s Anita Max Wynn Tour.

“I got an album coming out on Feb. 14 with my brother PartyNextDoor,” Drake told the crowd. “It’s called $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, but it’s some turned-up songs for you on there, too, and there’s some personal feelings on there for you. Hopefully, whoever you’re with on Valentine’s Day, hopefully y’all can share that experience together.”

Drake also revealed the cover art for $$$4U, which features both artists rocking fur coats in front of the Marilyn Monroe Towers in Canada.

The duo has long demonstrated their strong chemistry on tracks like “Come and See Me,” “Recognize,” “Members Only,” “Loyal,” “Preach, “Since Way Back,” and others.

Looking for new family movies to watch? This Billboard Family calendar is a roundup of 2025 kid and family movie releases that should be appropriate for most ages. To help people find picks that the entire family can enjoy together, only rated PG movies — or those that are expected to be rated PG — are included on the list.

Plenty of family films are opening in 2025. Winter and spring highlights for kids include January’s Paddington in Peru, the third installment of the hit movie series starring the sweet children’s literature character Paddington Bear, and the March release of Disney’s Snow White, a live-action version of Walt Disney Productions’ 1937 animated classic, starring Rachel Zegler.

Summer brings theatrical releases such as June’s Elio, a Pixar original described as a “comedic misadventure’ that’s about an 11-year-old alien-and-space fanatic who’s transported to an “interplanetary paradise that is home to intelligent life from galaxies far and wide,” and August’s Freakier Friday, which has stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan reuniting in a sequel to the 2003 family comedy that had the mother-daughter duo swapping bodies.

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While much of fall still appears appears open in the kid and family movie space, part two of Universal’s Wicked, titled Wicked: For Good, arrives in theaters in late November.

Some anticipated 2025 animated movie releases that do not yet have a release date include an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel The Twits, which will be streaming on Netflix, and the stop-motion dark fantasy Wildwood from Laika, the studio behind 2009’s Coraline. These two films and more have TBD release dates that will be updated on the calendar once announced.

Bookmark this page and check back to see the latest updates to Billboard Family‘s calendar of 2025 movie releases for kids and families.

Bad Bunny will soon be soothing babies to sleep with Rockabye Baby!’s upcoming album release, Lullaby Renditions of Bad Bunny.

The set, featuring instrumental lullaby versions of 14 Bad Bunny songs, is due out on Friday, Feb. 21. Some of Bad Bunny’s biggest hits are on the track list, including the Hot 100 No. 1 “I Like It” and several Hot Latin Songs chart toppers, like “La Canción,” “Dákiti,” “Si Veo a Tu Mamá,” “Me Porto Bonito” and “Te Bote.”

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Rockabye Baby! has unveiled a claymation music video for the lullaby rendition of Bad Bunny’s El Último Tour Del Mundo single “Dákiti,” which stayed at No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart for 27 weeks following its release in 2020; the song also reached No. 5 on the Hot 100. The playful clip can be seen here:

The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Coldplay, Adele and more are among the other stars whose music has been reimagined as instrumental lullabies with Rockabye Baby! album releases.

Bad Bunny’s latest full-length studio album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, recently spent three straight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart upon its January release.

Check out the full Lullaby Renditions of Bad Bunny track list below. (And for those who want a copy of the album to sooth themselves, whether or not they have children, go for it. As the company says: “Not a baby? Not a parent? Not a problem. We won’t tell if you listen on your own.”)

1. “La Canción”
2. “I Like It”
3. “Dákiti”
4. “Si Veo a Tu Mamá”
5. “La Santa”
6. “Ignorantes”
7. “Me Porto Bonito”
8. “Tití Me Preguntó”
9. “Ojitos Lindos”
10. “Callaita”
11. “Cómo Se Siente”
12. “Te Boté”
13. “MIA”
14. “Después de la Playa”

Sheryl Crow is bidding farewell to her Tesla.

The Grammy-winning singer, 63, announced on Instagram Friday (Feb. 14) that she’s selling her Tesla and donating the proceeds to NPR. Her decision comes in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s push for government efficiency through his unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which aims to cut federal programs.

“My parents always said… you are who you hang out with. There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with. So long Tesla,” Crow captioned a video of her cheerfully waving goodbye as her Tesla is hauled away.

The “All I Wanna Do” singer continued, “Money donated to @npr, which is under threat by President Musk, in hopes that the truth will continue to find its way to those willing to know the truth. #PresidentMusk #PresidentTrump #Call1-202-224-3141 #ProtectTheConstitution.”

The short clip is set to Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman’s song “Time to Say Goodbye.”

Crow’s post received praise from fellow artists like Kacey Musgraves and Margo Price, who expressed their support in the comments. “Sheryl Queen,” Musgraves wrote, while Price added, “Love to see it.”

Back in April 2019, Crow had praised her Tesla after turning to then-Twitter for advice on fixing her car’s screen, which had gone black. Musk responded quickly with helpful suggestions.

Crow’s decision to part with her Tesla comes as President Donald Trump continues his criticism of NPR, whose reporting he often disagrees with. Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr has launched an investigation into NPR and PBS member stations over concerns that their “broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials.” Musk’s DOGE initiative is also working to reportedly “delete entire agencies” in an effort to reduce government spending and jobs.

Check out Crow’s Instagram post below.

It’s about damn time for some new Lizzo music! The superstar went live on Twitch on Friday (Feb. 14), and after navigating some technical difficulties with her muted microphone, she gave her fans a Valentine’s Day gift with a new teaser.

The brief clip featured a close-up shot of Lizzo crying while looking into the camera, as a flute melody played in the background. The crying then turned into laughter, all before the singer stared dead-pan into the lens, with tears streaming down her face. The scene then ends with a date: February 28.

While Lizzo didn’t reveal if the upcoming release will be a song or a full-length album, she revealed, “I’ve been working on music for the last two years, and took my time and I did it right. The new era begins today.”

She then added, “I truly am coming to gag throats.”

Fans suspected something new was on the horizon when she said goodbye to her 2022 album, Special. “It’s the end of a very Special era. This album was my strut back into society after a hard 2020 & 2021. I wanted to help people turn up the music, turn down the lights and get a feeling they’ll be alright,” she wrote on Instagram on Thursday (Feb. 13) alongside the album cover. “I wanted to remind people of how they may be broken but still perfect in their own way. 12 songs, 68 shows, 14 countries, 3 continents and nearly a million voices later we saw our specialness. We got through it together. I’m proud of the accolades, the Grammys the Emmys the Platinum plaque… but I’m most proud of the Legacy I’m leaving this world— lyrics that uplift you, music w real instruments, a reminder to dance and that it’s okay to cry… and high vibrations! I thank God every day that this is my job, and I don’t take it lightly.”

She followed up with another post, a video truly bidding adieu to the Special era by spray painting “Bye B—-” over the album cover in red paint. See it here.

When it comes to live music gigs on television, few slots are more prestigious than Saturday Night Live. If you play SNL, there’s a sense that not only have you made it, but you’re an artist the world will be seeing a lot more of for years to come.

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The venerable comedy institution celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, which you’d have to be living under a (30) rock to miss: In addition to two excellent documentaries, Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music (directed by Questlove, no less) and SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, this holiday weekend sees two massive celebrations of the show’s impact take place in Manhattan and on screens across the country. On Friday (Feb. 14), a cavalcade of musical stars hit the stage at Radio City Music Hall for SNL50: The Homecoming Concert (streaming on Peacock) and on Sunday (Feb. 16), SNL50: The Anniversary Special airs. (On Saturday, NBC re-airs the first-ever episode of the series, which featured Janis Ian and Billy Preston as musical guests.)

In the midst of the madness, two people who help Saturday Night Live book its musical talent gamely hopped on a Zoom call with Billboard to discuss how they go about bringing singers, rappers and bands to the SNL soundstage. Talent producer Rebecca Schwartz has been at SNL in some capacity since 2015 (MGK was the first artist she picked up the phone and offered an SNL slot to), while coordinating producer Brian Siedlecki began as an intern back in 1996 (the first artist he booked was Nelly Furtado when “I’m Like a Bird” hit).

The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What’s a typical week for you like?

Rebecca Schwartz: It changes tremendously based on who the musical guest is, but generally, they won’t walk into the building until Thursday. So Monday through Wednesday we are having production meetings with their creative team. We’re having calls — hopefully, this is taking place before the week of show, but oftentimes, is very much happening the week of the show – and fine-tuning their sets and [talking about] the parameters of what’s actually capable of being built in the very, very small music set. Then we also are simultaneously having labels come here or going to label’s offices. We’re taking incoming pitches all the time as well.

Brian Siedlecki: And going to see people perform concerts, showcases, festivals. We’re paying attention to things like TikTok and streaming. We’re listening to pitches but we’re also aggressively pursuing artists that we believe in and seeing if there’s any flexibility in their touring schedule to make them available in New York for three days.

SNL is such a prestigious gig for any artist. I would imagine you have an embarrassment of options to choose from each season.

Siedlecki: Sometimes. But with people’s touring schedules, it makes it really difficult. They don’t come in for one day like some of these other [TV] shows. And it’s super expensive to do our show. So they want to perform on our show when it makes sense for them. There’s wardrobe, they’re keeping their crew in New York from Wednesday to Sunday, they might bring in lighting. It all adds up pretty quickly.

Schwartz: There usually has to be a label somewhat involved in financing the appearance. There are so many moving targets. When I first came here, and this is with hosts as well, I had a little bit of, “What’s so hard about this? Who’s the most famous, exciting person right now? Of course they’ll want to do SNL.” Which is true. However, there are so many variables. Sometimes people truly don’t have two days off in a row. Sometimes people aren’t in an album cycle and they really do have this incredible performance, but it costs half a million dollars and they don’t want to pay out of pocket for that. It takes a lot of scheduling, which is not sexy.

Scheduling is half the music biz. Obviously booking Paul McCartney is an easy yes, but what makes an up-and-coming artist SNL worthy in your opinion?

Siedlecki: Sometimes it’s clear as day, like Olivia Rodrigo and how quickly she exploded. Chappell Roan, same thing, it’s just trying to figure out when’s the moment. By the time we had her on she was a huge star. But then sometimes it’s just like, Rebecca booked Mk.gee and saw his live show and was totally wowed by him. It was a really cool live performance and we fought to get him on.

Schwartz: At the end of the day, Lorne [Michaels] really does make every decision and have an opinion on it and is involved. If it’s somebody where he’s not seen any media on them, we put stuff in front of him and he has input on these things. Mk.gee, we obviously loved the music, and [he is popular] amongst certain cool-music-guy crowds. [We saw his show and] it just it felt like nothing either of us had seen before. Because we have so many incredibly famous, accomplished artists, there aren’t that many slots necessarily for people who really are like, “This is a freaky risk, but we swear it’s [worth booking].”

Siedlecki: Throughout the season, we are able to take chances. We’ll book newer artists where the general public might not know them by name, but they know the song. And then there’ll be some artists that we book that people are like, “Wait, who is that?” A lot of times it’s just trusting our gut and who gets us excited. Everyone in the office clues us in on people they’ve heard or seen or are excited about. So it’s definitely an open conversation about who we’re going to book.

Do cast members stump for their favorite artists?

Schwartz: All the time. Which is amazing. That’s what makes this show varied and prescient. There’s a very broad spectrum of tastes and metrics and ages, we actually do have a pretty diverse office in every definition of that word. Everybody is very much encouraged to see stuff and report on it. We do try to take in as much information as possible, even stuff that’s not our sensibility. Lorne is very good at that too — stuff that isn’t necessarily his sensibility, but he understands its value to people.

Siedlecki: At the end of the day, we just want an amazing performance whether or not it’s our type of music.

Do you ever get someone pitching you on a concept and the staging just doesn’t work, and you have to pivot last minute?

Siedlecki: Occasionally. We will know what will work and what won’t. If an artist is super passionate, we’ll say, “OK, let’s try to accomplish it and take a look at it on Thursday.” But we’ll really encourage them to have a backup plan. Most of them are pretty agreeable to it.

Schwartz: We are always encouraging people to take big swings and I do think we are a very artist-friendly show in that way. We are not precious about the sets; we want it to look how the artist wants it to look. With that said, there are very real physical restraints. We will always try anything somebody wants, but it’s like, “Let’s be realistic. You should absolutely have a contingency plan for when, like, your harness doesn’t lift you up.”

Siedlecki: We include our lighting director, our director, our set designer in all these conversations. They may have ideas that they think will help accomplish the look that [the artist] wants without necessarily doing exactly what they want just because of the parameters of the studio. It’s very much a collaborative process. The hope is that by Thursday, they come in and they don’t have to worry about the set. It looks great, we do minor tweaks, and then they can just worry about the performance.

How does it work with having artists in sketches?

Siedlecki: We try to gauge interest at the beginning of the week, just to make sure we’re not wasting anybody’s time. We’re very involved in that.

Schwartz: Especially if there is someone that is really excited about wanting to be a part of it, we will campaign a little bit for them as well, just to make sure the writers are aware that this person is around and available and interested. And try to get them to be used.

Siedlecki: And during read through, one of us might have an idea of like, “Oh my god, we should get Billie Eilish to play this character or do this impersonation.”

What are you doing during the actual show?

Siedlecki: We get notes from Lorne after dress rehearsal, and some things we have to address. But in most cases, by Saturday night, things are pretty much tweaked and ready to go.

Schwartz: There certainly have been scenarios where after dress, something is truly not functional. On Thursday, during camera blocking, we try to give Lorne a heads-up if there’s something [amiss], like if we’re having lighting disagreements with their in-house creative. So we try to flag that stuff so even if we don’t have a contingency plan on Saturday, we can limit the contentiousness when we ultimately do have to go to them. Sometimes we will have it queued up on a laptop so we can watch back the dress rehearsal and go like, “You can see that the strobing is crazy,” or whatever. Generally, we all agree. Those are rarer than often, and we hope to not have to do any tremendous recalibrating between dress and air.

Siedlecki: Some of these artists and creative people are so used to creating for a tour or something like that, and so they come into our studio and it’s a very different environment. So we do have to tame down some of the smoke or some of the lights. It’s tricky to figure out for TV. It’s a big look for these artists. I think they’re like, “This is my one opportunity. I want to blow it out of the water.” And so they try to do that in every way.

This weekend you have two big SNL events.

Schwartz: Friday [is happening] basically because of the fact that on the Sunday show we can’t have as many musical artists that have been impactful [on SNL] for over 50 years. The documentary was stunning, and that was a fraction of the artists. Friday is sort of functioning as our best attempt at covering genres and time periods. And then Sunday will be a micro-version of that as well, of different genres and age groups and people that have a connection with the show.

There have been over a thousand performances on SNL over the years. I actually had this crazy idea of watching all of them and ranking them, which I quickly abandoned.

Schwartz: Questlove did that, by the way! He didn’t rank them, but he watched them in preparation for the documentary. He really has an encyclopedic knowledge of every performance and if dress was better than air, which sometimes it is. I think he did that for about a year.

He absolutely is an encyclopedia of music, that doesn’t surprise me. Do either of you have a favorite musical performance, either during your time on SNL or before? Whose performance hit you the hardest?

Schwartz: Well, that’s Lana Del Rey. I love Lana.

Siedlecki: That hit me the most in different ways. [Laughs]

Schwartz: He worked [on that one], so it was different. But as a fan and person who was not employed [here], I just remember seeing that performance in real time being like, “This is fully Warhol performance art, it’s so cool. Can’t believe this is on SNL.” Obviously, the next day I was truly surprised by other people’s experience of it, but I do remember watching that as a fan and being like, “This is exactly what she does.” It’s incredible that they gave her the platform to do that because she is an artist.

I think she’s been vindicated in the long run. But yes, at the time, people were hard on her.

Siedlecki: It was tough, it was stressful. But she is someone we believed in. That album was incredible, and we stood behind it. We still do. For me, when Prince came through, I was like, “Is he really showing up?” And then it was incredible to be there and talk to him for three minutes. Just, wow.

Schwartz: I had just started and obviously I didn’t speak a word to him or even be in his eye line, but I watched from afar. I don’t know if I saw his feet touch the ground. He floated. He really was as mystical as you would have hoped for.