SNL: Jack Black Rocks Out With Jack White, Stars In “Carry On Wayward Son” Sketch

Tonight was Jack Black's fifth time hosting Saturday Night Live and Jack White's sixth time performing, including once with the White Stripes (he also played SNL50: The Anniversary Special last year). The duo known as Jack Gray made the most of the clever booking by appearing in a couple of sketches together.

Jonah Hill showed up during the monologue to welcome his Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot castmate Black to the Five-Timers Club. In the club room, Tina Fey (who recently hosted the first SNL UK), Candice Bergen, and Melissa McCarthy cameoed too, as did musical guest White (Hill: “Wow it’s my hero, Professor Snape.”) White said he had to go “move my hearse” but returned to play White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” while Black belted lyrics about hosting.

Black and White both appeared with James Austin Johnson, Kenan Thompson, and Andrew Dismukes in a pre-taped music video for the country ballad "Words To Live By." Black also played a lunching employee who was annoyed by a coworker (Ashley Padilla), a karate instructor (alongside Marcello Hernández) in a self-defense class, the 301st Spartan who was not chosen as a warrior to fight the Persian army, and an Airbnb Superhost trying to hang out with the spring breakers in his rental (McCarthy was in that one too).

In another musical sketch, Black spontaneously harmonized on Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son" with fellow husbands he'd just met at their wives' get-together. (At the end they all revealed rock 'n' roll vests under their outfits.)

The first performance by White and his band (drummer Patrick Keeler, keyboardist Bobby Emmett, bassist Dominic Davis) was "Derecho Demonico," one of the two surprise songs he released on Friday. They followed with A-side "G.O.D. And The Broken Ribs." White's been performing both tunes in concert since last year.

“Jack Gray” was coined in the summer of 2019 when Tenacious D teased a song they'd recorded with White at the musician's Third Man Records, and the D released “Don’t Blow It, Kage” on Record Store Day that fall. Kage refers to Black's bandmate Kyle Gass; they had a fallout after Gass joked about Donald Trump's assassination in 2024, but earlier this year Gass said the band was not done. While signing autographs on Thursday, Black clarified to TMZ that they have no current plans to reunite. (Michael Che made a Trump assassination joke during Weekend Update tonight, though.)

Speaking on The Tonight Show this week, Black said, “I’m not crazy about [Jack Gray] because gray kind of has a negative connotation… I’d rather it was like Jack Silver or Jack Zebra or Jack Stripes.” He also told Jimmy Fallon he didn’t even know White was asked to be the musical guest until the musician called him to make sure it was a good idea.

It seems likely SNL tapped White only because Black was hosting, and that White released the new songs for the occasion. He's not really promoting anything significant right now (his next live show is May 30 in Latvia), but he'll be on another late night show, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, on Monday. Black's current project The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is in theaters now.

Here are the Black and White promos:

And here's Sarah Sherman stealing the show as Bryon Noem visiting Weekend Update.