Ariana Grande during the monologue on ‘Saturday Night Live’ on Oct. 12, 2024.
Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images
Since its premiere in 1975, Saturday Night Live has been one of the biggest bucket-list performance slots for musicians. But to host the legendary sketch-comedy program? That’s when you know you’ve really made it as a star.
And for many musicians over the years, that dream has become reality. Everyone from Ray Charles to the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash, Madonna, Britney Spears, Drake, Taylor Swift have, at various points in SNL history, piloted different episodes of the series.
It’s not an easy gig — especially for hosts who pull double duty and serve as their own musical guests — with show leads only getting one week of preparation before they are tasked with delivering live monologues and playing absurd characters in skits that challenge them to break away from their artistic images. But with the help of creator Lorne Michaels and a rotating cast of some of the world’s best comedians and joke writers, time and time again, musicians have successfully added 30 Rock to the list of venues they’ve conquered, adding their names to the show’s ever-expanding host history book.
As SNL celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025, Billboard is rounding up every musician who’s ever hosted the flagship NBC program — not counting stars like Bruce Willis or Eddie Murphy, who may have musical proclivities but are much more famous for their non-musical pursuits. From Paul Simon to Charli XCX and more, keep reading to see all the artists who’ve led the show — plus their respective seasons, episodes and musical guests — in chronological order below.
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Paul Simon
Season: 1
Episode date: Oct. 18, 1975
Musical guest: Paul Simon
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Kris Kristofferson
Season: 1
Episode date: July 31, 1976
Musical guests: Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge
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Paul Simon
Season: 2
Episode date: Nov. 20, 1976
Musical guest: Paul Simon
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Ray Charles
Image Credit: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images Season: 3
Episode date: Nov. 12, 1977
Musical guest: Ray Charles
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Art Garfunkel
Season: 3
Episode date: March 11, 1978
Musical guests: Art Garfunkel & Stephen Bishop
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The Rolling Stones
Season: 4
Episode date: Oct. 7, 1978
Musical guest: The Rolling Stones
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Frank Zappa
Season: 4
Episode date: Oct. 21, 1978
Musical guest: Frank Zappa
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Ricky Nelson
Season: 4
Episode date: Feb. 17, 1979
Musical guest: Judy Collins
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Debbie Harry
Image Credit: Al Levine/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images Season: 6
Episode date: Feb. 14, 1981
Musical guest: Debbie Harry
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Bernadette Peters
Season: 7
Episode date: Nov. 14, 1981
Musical guest: The Go-Go’s & Billy Joel
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Johnny Cash
Season: 7
Episode date: April 17, 1982
Musical guest: Johnny Cash & Elton John
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Olivia Newton-John
Season: 7
Episode date: May 22, 1982
Musical guest: Olivia Newton-John
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The Smothers Brothers
Season: 8
Episode date: Dec. 4, 1982
Musical guest: Laura Branigan
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Stevie Wonder
Season: 8
Episode date: May 7, 1983
Musical guest: Stevie Wonder
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The Smothers Brothers
Season: 9
Episode: Dec. 3, 1983
Musical guest: Big Country
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Ringo Starr
Season: 10
Episode date: Dec. 8, 1984
Musical guest: Herbie Hancock
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Madonna
Image Credit: Alan Singer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images Season: 11
Episode date: Nov. 9, 1985
Musical guest: Simple Minds
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Paul Simon
Season: 11
Episode date: May 10, 1986
Musical guest: Paul Simon
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Paul Shaffer
Season: 12
Episode date: Jan. 31, 1987
Musical guest: Bruce Hornsby & The Range
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Willie Nelson
Season: 12
Episode date: Feb. 21, 1987
Musical guest: Willie Nelson
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Paul Simon
Season: 13
Episode date: Dec. 19, 1987
Musical guest: Linda Ronstadt
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Dolly Parton
Image Credit: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Season: 14
Episode date: April 15, 1989
Musical guest: Dolly Parton
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Quincy Jones
Season: 15
Episode date: Feb. 10, 1990
Musical guest: Quincy Jones
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Sting
Season: 16
Episode date: Jan. 19, 1991
Musical guest: Sting
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MC Hammer
Season: 17
Episode date: Dec. 7, 1991
Musical guest: MC Hammer
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Sting
Season: 22
Episode date: March 15, 1997
Musical guests: Veruca Salt & Sting
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Garth Brooks
Season: 23
Episode date: Feb. 28, 1998
Musical guest: Garth Brooks
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Garth Brooks
Season: 25
Episode date: Nov. 13, 1999
Musical guest: Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines
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Britney Spears
Season: 25
Episode date: May 13, 2000
Musical guest: Britney Spears
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Jennifer Lopez
Season: 26
Episode date: Feb. 10, 2001
Musical guest: Jennifer Lopez
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Britney Spears
Image Credit: Mary Ellen Matthews/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Season: 27
Episode date: Feb. 2, 2002
Musical guest: Britney Spears
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Queen Latifah
Season: 28
Episode date: March 8, 2003
Musical guest: Ms. Dynamite
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Justin Timberlake
Season: 29
Episode date: Oct. 11, 2003
Musical guest: Justin Timberlake
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Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey
Season: 29
Episode date: Jan. 17, 2004
Musical guest: G-Unit
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Christina Aguilera
Season: 29
Episode date: Feb. 21, 2004
Musical guest: Maroon 5
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Janet Jackson
Season: 29
Episode date: April 10, 2004
Musical guest: Janet Jackson
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Snoop Dogg
Season: 29
Episode date: May 8, 2004
Musical guest: Avril Lavigne
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Queen Latifah
Image Credit: Mary Ellen Matthews/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images Season: 30
Episode date: Oct. 9, 2004
Musical guest: Queen Latifah
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Ludacris
Season: 32
Episode date: Nov. 18, 2006
Musical guest: Ludacris
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Justin Timberlake
Season: 32
Episode date: Dec. 16, 2006
Musical guest: Justin Timberlake
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Jon Bon Jovi
Season: 33
Episode date: Oct. 13, 2007
Musical guests: Jon Bon Jovi & Foo Fighters
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Tim McGraw
Season: 34
Episode date: Nov. 22, 2008
Musical guests: Ludacris & T-Pain
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Justin Timberlake
Season: 34
Episode date: May 9, 2009
Musical guests: Justin Timberlake & Ciara
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Taylor Swift
Season: 35
Episode date: Nov. 7, 2009
Musical guest: Taylor Swift
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Jennifer Lopez
Season: 35
Episode date: Feb. 27, 2010
Musical guest: Jennifer Lopez
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Miley Cyrus
Image Credit: Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Season: 36
Episode date: March 5, 2011
Musical guest: The Strokes
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Elton John
Season: 36
Episode date: April 2, 2011
Musical guest: Elton John
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Justin Timberlake
Season: 36
Episode date: May 21, 2011
Musical guest: Lady Gaga
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Katy Perry
Season: 37
Episode date: Dec. 10, 2011
Musical guest: Robyn
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Mick Jagger
Season: 37
Episode date: May 19, 2012
Musical guests: Mick Jagger, Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters & Jeff Beck
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Bruno Mars
Season: 38
Episode date: Oct. 20, 2012
Musical guest: Bruno Mars
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Adam Levine
Season: 38
Episode date: Jan. 26, 2013
Musical guest: Kendrick Lamar
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Justin Bieber
Season: 38
Episode date: Feb. 9, 2013
Musical guest: Justin Bieber
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Justin Timberlake
Season: 38
Episode date: March 9, 2013
Musical guest: Justin Timberlake
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Miley Cyrus
Season: 39
Episode date: Oct. 5, 2013
Musical guest: Miley Cyrus
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Lady Gaga
Image Credit: Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Season: 39
Episode date: Nov. 16, 2013
Musical guest: Lady Gaga
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Drake
Season: 39
Episode date: Jan. 18, 2014
Musical guest: Drake
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Blake Shelton
Season: 40
Episode date: Jan. 24, 2015
Musical guest: Blake Shelton
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Miley Cyrus
Season: 41
Episode date: Oct. 3, 2015
Musical guest: Miley Cyrus
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Ariana Grande
Season: 41
Episode date: March 12, 2016
Musical guest: Ariana Grande
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Drake
Season: 41
Episode date: May 14, 2016
Musical guest: Drake
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Lin-Manuel Miranda
Season: 42
Episode date: Oct. 8, 2016
Musical guest: Twenty One Pilots
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Chance the Rapper
Season: 43
Episode date: Nov. 18, 2017
Musical guest: Eminem
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Donald Glover
Image Credit: Will Heath/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Season: 43
Episode date: May 5, 2018
Musical guest: Donald Glover as Childish Gambino
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Halsey
Season: 44
Episode date: Feb. 9, 2019
Musical guest: Halsey
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Chance the Rapper
Season: 45
Episode date: Oct. 26, 2019
Musical guest: Chance the Rapper
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Harry Styles
Season: 45
Episode date: Nov. 16, 2019
Musical guest: Harry Styles
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Jennifer Lopez
Season: 45
Episode date: Dec. 7, 2019
Musical guest: DaBaby
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RuPaul
Season: 45
Episode date: Feb. 8, 2020
Musical guest: Justin Bieber
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Adele
Season: 46
Episode date: Oct. 24, 2020
Musical guest: H.E.R.
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Nick Jonas
Season: 46
Episode date: Feb. 27, 2021
Musical guest: Nick Jonas
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Billie Eilish
Season: 47
Episode date: Dec. 11, 2021
Musical guest: Billie Eilish
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Lizzo
Season: 47
Episode date: April 16, 2022
Musical guest: Lizzo
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Selena Gomez
Image Credit: Rosalind OConnor/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images Season: 47
Episode date: May 14, 2022
Musical guest: Post Malone
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Megan Thee Stallion
Season: 48
Episode date: Oct. 15, 2022
Musical guest: Megan Thee Stallion
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Jack Harlow
Season: 48
Episode date: Oct. 29, 2022
Musical guest: Jack Harlow
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Bad Bunny
Season: 49
Episode date: Oct. 21, 2023
Musical guest: Bad Bunny
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Dua Lipa
Season: 49
Episode date: May 4, 2024
Musical guest: Dua Lipa
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Ariana Grande
Season: 50
Episode date: Oct. 12, 2024
Musical guest: Stevie Nicks
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Charli XCX
Image Credit: Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images Season: 50
Episode date: Nov. 16, 2024
Musical guest: Charli XCX