Paul Simon is one of Saturday Night Live’s most regular musical guests.
Lorne Michaels’ friend has hosted the show four times and has been a musical guest 13 times (including as the oldest musical guest).
He turned up again on tonight’s show to introduce Harry Styles’ second musical performance. Styles’ first song was introduced by Ryan Gosling, who crashed his show much like the One Direction star crashed the Project Hail Mary star’s episode.
Simon welcomed Styles ahead of him performing “Coming Up Roses,” from his Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally album, on the piano.
The Simon & Garfunkel star last appeared on SNL in 2018 but also opened SNL50: The Anniversary Special with Sabrina Carpenter with the pair playing 1966 single “Homeward Bound.”
Styles has talked up Simon’s influence on him. He revealed that One Direction song “Walking in the Wind” was a homage to Graceland.
“I’m a big Paul Simon fan and I think the inspiration behind it was Graceland, in which the verse was so conversational, informal and it’s like spoken word,” he said in 2022. “It’s quite casual and I love that album and when I listen to it I love hearing the influence from that in this song. I really love the song.”
In 2015, he said, “I grew up in a pub for a few years when I was a kid and Simon and Garfunkel were just constantly playing, always. Every time ‘Cecilia’ started, I’d be like, ‘I think I’ve heard this a hundred times today.”
Styles closed out the show thanking both Simon and Gosling.
