Last weekend's Saturday Night Live ended with the viral moment of musical guest Morgan Wallen inexplicably exiting the stage during Goodnights then posting "Get me to God's country" over a photo of his private jet. Wallen hasn't addressed the ensuing controversy, but he's now selling merch with the phrase. "Whatever," cast member and GERD awareness spokesperson Kenan Thompson said about the situation a few days later. "We got Jack Black this week. We're here talking about GERD. We will be fine."
Jack Black does have a good track record. The last episode he hosted had a bunch of memorable sketches including "Lazy Sunday," "Christmastime For The Jews," and Will Forte's Spelling Bee sketch (featuring Tenacious D). That was over 19 years ago, so it meant he broke a very obscure record previously held by Jon Hamm for the most time between third and fourth hosting stint.
The actual musical guests last night were Elton John and Brandi Carlile, the third SNL appearance for each of them. The duo's collaborative album Who Believes In Angels? came out on Friday, and I have not listened to it yet, but I did hear John was in the news for something else this week.
Patti LaBelle Says Tupperware Is ‘Very Important’ to Her — and Elton John Never Gave Hers Back https://t.co/4hq0CKKfz9
— People (@people) April 3, 2025
Monday marked the 25th anniversary of High Fidelity, which gave Jack Black his breakout role as the snobby record store clerk Barry. As the actor/singer reminded us in his monologue song, he has done "some indie films" since then: Jumanji, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Kung Fu Panda, and Nacho Libre. (The project he's currently promoting is A Minecraft Movie.)
The My Chemical Romance joke referenced in this post's headline came pretty early in the episode. Set in Jamaica, a pre-taped music video began with Kenan Thompson and Ego Nwodim singing a reggae song called "Goth Kid On Vacation." Michael Longfellow played the titular goth. Jack Black appeared in The Black Parade-era Gerard Way garb, singing to the tune of MCR's "Welcome To The Black Parade”: "When I was a young boy / My parents took me down to Jamaica / For my high school spring break / They said, 'Come to the pool' but / I stayed in the room with my graphic novels / So I could masturbate."
Black led a little School Of Rock throwback while they were rehearsing that one:
That was one of several sketches that called for Black to sing. In a sort of rework of the "Love At First Sight Sketch with Chance The Rapper from several years ago, Black sang about "making love" as part of a quad with Sarah Sherman, Bowen Yang, and Brandi Carlile while all the actors hung from wires. Another was a "potluck jam" where amateur musicians were invited to join Black's character's group Big Ricky & The Minnows on a cover of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'." They ended up with way too many bassists.
As far Black's real life comedic musical act, the aforementioned Tenacious D, he was asked for an update at the A Minecraft Movie premiere the other day. Last we heard the duo was "on hold" after Kyle Gass "blindsided" Black with a Donald Trump assassination joke onstage in Sydney last summer. Talking to Trump foe the Associated Press, Black said the time isn't yet right for a reunion. "There will be no D wine until it's D time," he explained. "But yeah, so it's not time yet. But never say never."
During this show's musical segments, John and Carlile performed their new LP's "Little Richard's Bible" and title track "Who Believes In Angels?" Unlike Morgan Wallen, they stayed for Goodnights.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=t3245EbaPc0
https://youtube.com/watch?v=lhmTT9eaYjE
There were, however, a few references to the country star's faux pas during the show. In the expected tariffs speech cold open, James Austin Johnston's Donald Trump made a "get me to God's country" joke while holding a picture of Heard and McDonald Islands that showed a Big Mac in a hula skirt. (Mike Myers returned as Elon Musk in that one.) And Colin Jost also joked during Weekend Update that "money is leaving the stock market faster than Morgan Wallen at Goodnights."
Next week SNL has another new episode, with host John Hamm and musical guest Lizzo.
