Saturday Night Live has officially solved one of its most recent mysteries. After revealing that the late-night sketch series would air new episodes three weeks in a row upon its return on Feb. 28, SNL stayed mum on who would be hosting the last of those three episodes. Well, we now know who's set as host for the March 14, and it's the second double-duty episode of season 51.
NBC announced on Feb. 23 that Grammy Award winner Harry Styles will return as host and musical guest on March 14. The singer previously pulled double duty on SNL back in November 2019, and with his new album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. coming out on March 6, Styles was a popular pick as to who could fill that mystery hosting slot in March.
Harry Styles returns to SNL for host and music guest double-duty
Season 51 has only boasted one other double-duty episode (so far, at least). Fellow Grammy Award-winner Sabrina Carpenter hosted and performed as music guest for the Oct. 18 episode. The season had other opportunities for double duty episodes, but hosts Bad Bunny, Ariana Grande, Finn Wolfhard, and Teyana Taylor didn't perform as the musical guest as well for their episodes.
As of the announcement of Styles' SNL hosting and musical guest gig, it hasn't been revealed which songs will be performed from his new album, but he's at least expected to perform his No. 1 single "Aperture" as well as another cut from the album. His episode airs one week after the album's release, giving fans plenty of time to devour the music before his big performance.
Prior to pulling double duty for the first time in November 2019, Harry Styles had appeared as music guest on the series four other times, once as a solo artist and three times as a member of One Direction. Given the excitement that's mounting for his new music, booking Styles was a no-brainer for SNL, since he's one of the few artists that fans will definitely tune in for live.
Saturday Night Live returns from its extended hiatus due to the Winter Olympics on Feb. 28 with first-time host Connor Storrie, one of the breakout stars from Heated Rivalry, and musical guest Mumford & Sons. The following week on March 7, Ryan Gosling returns to host alongside musical guest Gorillaz, which then leads into Styles' highly-anticipated episode.
Since season 51 is expected to contain 20 total episodes, following the airing of Styles' episode on March 14, there will only be five more new shows set to air this spring. In the coming weeks, NBC will reveal scheduling plans for these episodes and announce hosts and musical guests. With all of the great new shows and movies hitting our screens soon, the hosts should be excellent.