Elton John Returns to ‘SNL’ for First Time in Over a Decade with Brandi Carlile: Watch ArticlePure

Elton John and Brandi Carlile are one dynamic duo!

The musicians appeared as the musical guests on the April 5 episode of Saturday Night Live, where Jack Black served as host.

For their first performance, John, 78, and Carlile, 43, sang “Little Richard’s Bible” off their newly released collaborative album, Who Believes in Angels?

Later in the show, the pair returned to the Studio 8H stage to perform the title track of their latest LP.

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John’s SNL appearance marked his first time back on the late-night comedy sketch series in over a decade. He last appeared on the show in April 2011, when he served as both host and musical guest. Before that, the “Your Song” crooner appeared as the musical guest for the first time in April 1982.

Carlile, meanwhile, marked her third time on SNL. She previously appeared as the musical guest during an October 2021 episode, and then did the same again a year later in December 2022.

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John’s appearance on SNL also came amid his recent health struggles. Last year, the star shared in a post on Instagram that he had contracted an infection and lost vision in his right eye.

The infection, he further explained in a later interview with Good Morning America, was sustained while spending the summer in the south of France.

John and Carlile first met in 2009. At the time, the singer wrote John a letter asking him to play piano on her song “Caroline” from her album Give Up the Ghost. 

The pair remained friends, and collaborated on other projects throughout the years, but when the time came for John to release another record, he told Zane Lowe in an interview for Apple Music 1, “I would’ve killed myself.”

Instead, he said he “needed” Carlile to work with him, and their latest release was then crafted. “I needed her talent, her energy, her humor and her brilliant lyrics,” John said of Carlile.

Who Believes in Angels? is available to purchase and stream now. Saturday Night Live will return on April 12 with Jon Hamm as host and Lizzo as the musical guest.