When Saturday Night Live hosts and musical guests are selected, a lot of it has to do with a person’s relevance. Now that the show is winding down, it’s time to end things with a bang.
The season finale will feature one of Saturday Night Live’s biggest stars, Will Ferrell. In addition to his upcoming Netflix series, The Hawk, he has a plethora of podcasts under his network, The Big Money Players Network. Among them are popular shows like Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang and My Momma Told Me. Plus, Ferrell is one of the best cast members in the show’s 51 seasons. If that’s not enough, he’s joined by musical legend, Paul McCartney.
However, before we get to the season finale, SNL is beginning to build momentum with episodes featuring popular singers and actors. After Colman Domingo makes his SNL debut this week, fans have more to look forward to in May.
The first on the list is pulling double duty like icons Lily Tomlin, Jennifer Lopez, and Ariana Grande.
Who's hosting Saturday Night Live on Saturday, May 2?
Admittedly, I don’t know much about Olivia Rodrigo. However, you don't have to be completely plugged in to know she's a beloved pop star with multiple Grammys. She has over 39 million followers on Instagram and seems to be a very charitable person who donates to women’s charities and advocates for people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. She also has an album coming out this year titled You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, which is a pretty dope name.
And Rodrigo may be better known for her music, but she’s been on Disney shows like High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Bizaardvark. And, you may have noticed that most performers from Disney projects are usually talented on an elite level. So, it won’t be shocking when she knocks this performance out of the park.
Who's hosting Saturday Night Live on Saturday, May 9?
Matt Damon has hosted Saturday Night Live twice, but he’s also had a surprise appearance where he played Brett Kavanaugh. And he's no stranger to late-night TV, having popped up on Jimmy Kimmel Live! since the show began. He's mostly been on as Kimmel’s rival and punching bag (in jest).
Damon is likely joining the show now because of his upcoming movie, The Odyssey (which premieres on July 17, 2026). It’s a nice rollout before the summer blockbuster season starts. The movie will be a hit, but the extra exposure can’t hurt.
Noah Kahan will be the music guest. Kahan will be performing on the show for the second time after appearing in season 49. Besides selling millions of records (which is difficult in the era of streaming), Kahan has an album debuting later this year called The Great Divide, which is also the name of his current single. Once again, a smart decision by the creative team at SNL.Â
The last three episodes of season 51 of Saturday Night Live will be released live on NBC at 11:30 p.m. ET on Saturdays, and the following day on Peacock. Stay tuned to Last Night On for more on SNL.Â