Who are the SNL host and musical guest tonight, January 14th?
By Hector Cruz
SNL’s first new episode of 2017 will feature a Star Wars actress and a country music singer.
Saturday Night Live is back tonight to kick off the second half of its 42nd season with the first new show of the new year. The episode will be hosted by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story star Felicity Jones, with performances by country musician Sturgill Simpson. Both entertainers will be making their SNL debut.
The NBC program teased the installment with two promos, including a Star Wars-style clip where Jones fails to impress her team of Storm troopers with a groan-worthy joke. The second features the Oscar-nominated actress as she’s forced to say “May the Force be with you” by Simpson and SNL cast member Pete Davidson.
Simpson is nominated for Album of the Year and Country Album of the year for A Sailor’s Guide to Earth at the Grammy Awards, which take place Feb. 12th. He follows in the footsteps of fellow country artists Maren Morris, who made her debut on the show last month, as well as Chris Stapleton, Margo Price and Blake Shelton, who have all performed on SNL in the past two seasons, with The Voice star pulling double duty as host.
Meanwhile, Jones joins a growing list of first time hosts in Season 42, following Margot Robbie, Emily Blunt, Dave Chappelle, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Casey Affleck and John Cena. The episode will likely feature a Star Wars-inspired sketch or two, and may also include a tribute to the late Carrie Fisher, who hosted the series back in 1978 dressed as Princess Leia during a sketch and her opening monologue.
Next: SNL live stream: Watch tonight’s new episode with Felicity Jones online
Next week’s episode will be hosted by comedian Aziz Ansari, who will make history as the first host of South Asian descent in the show’s long history. Only two Asian celebrities — Jackie Chan and Lucy Lui — have presided over the sketch series in the past, though Bruno Mars and Fred Armisen both have some Asian ancestry. That night’s musical guest will be rapper Big Sean, making his first appearance on the show.
SNL airs tonight at 11:30 p.m. on NBC.