Another pillar of NBC’s season-long 50th anniversary celebration of Saturday Night Live has both a name and a date.
Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music, the new documentary from Oscar-winning filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is set to premiere on NBC January 27th, 2025 at 8pm ET/PT.
The three-hour primetime event will look at the show’s long legacy as the premiere venue for live televised musical performances, sharing untold stories behind some of the show’s most iconic and interesting musical moments.
The doc will feature new interviews and insight from members of the the show’s creative team and some of its most legendary musical guests over the years, including Bad Bunny, Elvis Costello, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Darryl DMC McDaniels, Tom Morello, Kacey Musgraves, Olivia Rodrigo, MC Sha-Rock, Paul Simon, Chris Stapleton, Justin Timberlake, and Jack White.
The film is co-directed by Oz Rodriguez, who won an Emmy for his work directing the YouTube series of documentary shorts Creating SNL.
Questlove, whose directorial debut Summer of Soul won Best Documentary feature at the 2022 Oscars, is of course no stranger to the Lorne Michaels machine, having served with The Roots as Jimmy Fallon’s house band since 2009. The Roots have appeared on SNL twice: once as musical guest with Busta Rhymes in 1999 and again as the backing band for Toots & the Maytals in 2004.
“Everyone knows the most famous SNL appearances, whether it’s Elvis Costello, Prince, or the Beastie Boys, but they’re the tip of a huge iceberg,” Questlove said in a statement included with today’s announcement. “The process of going back through the incredible archival footage was like being in a time machine, DeLorean or other. I’m so happy I went on the trip and now get to share it with everyone.”
Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music will premiere just a week and a half after another set of SNL docs are released. The four episode docuseries, SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, from filmmaker Morgan Neville (also an Oscar winner, for 2014’s 20 Feet from Stardom) is set to premiere on Peacock January 16th.
