Saturday Night Live has filled in its next three musical bookings, with Gracie Abrams returning on Halloween before The Strokes and Phoebe Bridgers take consecutive November slots. All three have performed on the programme before, although their histories there are quite different. The new run begins on October 31 after the show’s October break.
For anyone following one particular act, the pairings are worth keeping straight. The musical guests are separate from the hosts, and none of these announcements puts a musician in charge of the full episode.
Three Saturdays to mark
- October 31: Gracie Abrams performs, with Inde Navarrette hosting the Halloween episode.
- November 7: The Strokes return as musical guests alongside host Druski.
- November 14: Phoebe Bridgers performs on an episode hosted by John Mulaney.
Abrams is making her second appearance as musical guest. Her first was on December 14, 2024, so this return comes nearly two years later. She now has a third studio album, Daughter from Hell, released this summer, behind her. The booking gives viewers a chance to see her at a different point in her catalogue, rather than simply revisit the act introduced in that first broadcast.
The Strokes have a longer connection with the show. November 7 will be their fifth musical-guest appearance, following a debut on January 19, 2002. That puts almost 25 years between their first booking and this one. Their latest album, Reality Awaits, arrived in July, and their current world tour began in Paris on October 22. A television appearance falls into that wider period of activity; it does not, on its own, tell us which songs will make the broadcast.
Bridgers’ billing needs a small distinction. November 14 is her second solo turn as musical guest, following February 6, 2021. She has also appeared as part of boygenius with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, in Season 49. Counting only solo bookings would miss that visit; counting every appearance as a solo return would blur two different projects. Her current album is Lost Weekend, released in August.
Those returning names make an interesting companion to Turnstile’s debut earlier this season. Our look at Turnstile’s first SNL performance followed a band introducing itself to that audience; these autumn bookings offer viewers something to compare with earlier visits.
The programme airs on Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. Eastern on NBC, with episodes available the next day on Peacock. The dates identify the scheduled guests, not a confirmed set list. For now, the useful preparation is to revisit the artists’ earlier appearances and newer records, leaving room for whatever they choose to bring to Studio 8H.
