
Questlove says upcoming ‘SNL' special is ‘love letter' to show's 50 years of musical performances
NBC's celebration of 'Saturday Night Live's' 50-year history will continues this week with a new 3-hour documentary titled 'Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music.'
Nearly 1,000 artists have performed on the Studio 8H stage since 'SNL' debuted on October 11, 1975, according to the show, with the first being funk and soul musician Billy Preston.
'I remember when we come on the air, we're following Watergate, the last helicopter out of Vietnam, the city is broke, the church is being questioned and so everything seemed to be, if not crumbling, at least open to question,' the show's creator Lorne Michael said in a trailer for the doc, speaking of the series' debut.
At that moment in time, Michaels added, 'we just came on and did a show that we would want to see and music was a big part of that.'
According to an official synopsis, 'Ladies & Gentleman' will look back at the hundreds of performers who've taken the stage at 'SNL' and will reveal 'untold stories behind the culture-defining, groundbreaking, and news-making musical performances, sketches, and cameos of the past 50 years.'
'Ladies & Gentlemen' was co-produced by Oz Rodriguez and Roots drummer and Oscar-winning filmmaker Questlove, who wrote in an Instagram post over the weekend that 'every second of this doc is a love letter of sorts.'
The doc will feature commentary from artists including Miley Cyrus, Mick Jagger, Dave Grohl, Billie Eilish and Paul Simon, among others, plus actors who've graced the 'SNL' stage like Maya Rudolph, Eddie Murphy, Bill Hader and more.
'SNL's' 50th anniversary will culminate with a special on February 16, airing on NBC.
'Ladies & Gentleman… 50 Years of SNL Music' will air on NBC on Monday at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT.
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20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
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Business Wire
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Elle
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- Elle
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Shooting that scene at the end of The Way of Water was so difficult, but shooting Neytiri and Jake forcing themselves to get up and move on, and be there for their surviving children, was the hardest thing. It teaches you a lot about what it must be like as a parent, as a guardian. How do you also stay together, and how do you let love win once again after experiencing that kind of loss? It's the most complex thing. We're born, and I feel like the biggest growth in life is just learning how to die. Every living organism meets their demise, and I feel like a lot of our lives has to be spent accepting it. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.