WATCH: Brandi Carlile Debuts on ‘SNL’ With Two New Songs
Brandi Carlile made her Saturday Night Live debut on Saturday night (Oct. 23), appearing as the musical guest for an early Season 47 episode of the late-night sketch comedy television show. The singer-songwriter offered up two songs from her newest album, In These Silent Days.
Carlile and collaborators Phil and Tim Hanseroth, backed by Shooter Jennings on piano and two percussionists, first played “Broken Horses,” which shares its title with Carlile’s recently released memoir. She, in a shining gold suit and playing an orange electric guitar, stood center stage and was flanked by the Hanseroths, who back her on harmonies.
For her second performance, Carlile performed “Right on Time.” She began the song on piano before swapping that instrument for her guitar and rocking out with the Hanseroths. She earned applause from the SNL audience for each of the song’s lengthy high notes and was all smiles at the song’s conclusion.
Ahead of her Saturday Night Live debut, Carlile explained how monumental the moment was for her. On Instagram, the artist shared a photo from a 2018 trip to New York City, for a performance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, during which she “wandered accidentally into the SNL studio looking for the bathroom!”
“I saw the stage and it took my breath away … I don’t know why but I���ve always seen it as a definitive ‘ok now you’re a rockstar’ moment in a person’s musical life … I just HAD to grab a pic on the iconic Saturday Night Live stage,” Carlile wrote back in 2018. “ONE DAY we’ll get there man! Dreams come true everyday.”
Carlile paired her throwback photo with a present-day snap of herself in the same pose on the SNL stage, taken while preparing for her Saturday night performances:
Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis hosted Saturday night’s SNL episode. It was a homecoming of sorts for the actor and comedian, who was hired as a writer for the show in 2003 and was part of the show’s cast from 2005 through 2013.
“I just feel like he is my people. I couldn’t be more happy to be on there with him,” Carlile told Billboard of Sudeikis ahead of Saturday night. She’s a big fan of Ted Lasso, and calls it “a really special show.
“I think it really happened at the right time when people needed it — they needed to feel good about something,” Carlile adds. “And my wife is British, so she’s been really homesick with all the travel restrictions and everything she got to do to this tour de London, through Ted Lasso.”
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