Mere months after she was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live earlier this spring, Ariana Grande returned to NBC last night as the show’s host. She starred in the majority of the evening’s sketches and impersonated Celine Dion recording a sports promo, Jennifer Coolidge talking in the mirror, an over-competitive mother playing charades, and more. Joining the pop singer was musical guest Stevie Nicks, who performed her new song “The Lighthouse” and her massive 1981 hit “Edge of Seventeen.” Watch those performances, sketches, and Nicks and Grande’s joint SNL promo videos below.
During her opening monologue, Grande discussed her casting as Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked, the upcoming film adaptation of the Broadway musical, and poked fun at her ability to impersonate other singers, change keys while singing, and steal the spotlight.
Stevie Nicks’ triumphant return to Saturday Night Live arrived 41 years after her first and only other performance on the show, back in 1983 as a solo artist. Fleetwood Mac never played SNL. Written following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, “The Lighthouse” is self-described by Nicks as being “maybe the most important thing I ever do: to stand up for the women of the United States and their daughters and granddaughters.” It’s her first original song since 2020’s “Show Them the Way” and her 2014 album 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault.
As for Grande, this was her second time hosting SNL, after 2016’s episode where she pulled double duty as the musical guest, too. She also made her debut as a musical guest back in 2014 and sang again in March 2024. Grande released Eternal Sunshine—her Positions follow-up—earlier this year, which includes the songs “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love),” as well as the post-release single “The Boy Is Mine.” That latter track got a remix with Brandy and Monica.
Revisit “Stevie Nicks: Her Art and Life in 33 Songs” and “5 Takeaways From Ariana Grande’s New Album Eternal Sunshine” on the Pitch.