From Paul Simon to Lady Gaga, dozens of artists have etched their name into 30 Rock history since 1975.

12/30/2025

Lady Gaga during the monologue on 'Saturday Night Live' on March 8, 2025. Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images

Since its premiere in 1975, Saturday Night Live has been one of the biggest bucket-list performance slots for musicians. But to host the legendary sketch-comedy program? That’s when you know you’ve really made it as a star.

And for many musicians over the years, that dream has become reality. Everyone from Ray Charles to the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash, Madonna, Britney Spears, Drake, Taylor Swift have, at various points in SNL history, piloted different episodes of the series.

It’s not an easy gig — especially for hosts who pull double duty and serve as their own musical guests — with show leads only getting one week of preparation before they are tasked with delivering live monologues and playing absurd characters in skits that challenge them to break away from their artistic images. But with the help of creator Lorne Michaels and a rotating cast of some of the world’s best comedians and joke writers, time and time again, musicians have successfully added 30 Rock to the list of venues they’ve conquered, adding their names to the show’s ever-expanding host history book.

As SNL celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025, Billboard is rounding up every musician who’s ever hosted the flagship NBC program — not counting stars like Bruce Willis or Eddie Murphy, who may have musical proclivities but are much more famous for their non-musical pursuits. From Paul Simon to Charli XCX and more, keep reading to see all the artists who’ve led the show — plus their respective seasons, episodes and musical guests — in chronological order below.

• Paul Simon

  Season: 1

  Episode date: Oct. 18, 1975

  Musical guest: Paul Simon

• Kris Kristofferson

  Season: 1

  Episode date: July 31, 1976

  Musical guests: Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge

• Paul Simon

  Season: 2

  Episode date: Nov. 20, 1976

  Musical guest: Paul Simon

• Ray Charles

  

  Image Credit: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images

  Season: 3

  Episode date: Nov. 12, 1977

  Musical guest: Ray Charles

• Art Garfunkel

  Season: 3

  Episode date: March 11, 1978

  Musical guests: Art Garfunkel & Stephen Bishop

• The Rolling Stones

  Season: 4

  Episode date: Oct. 7, 1978

  Musical guest: The Rolling Stones

• Frank Zappa

  Season: 4

  Episode date: Oct. 21, 1978

  Musical guest: Frank Zappa

• Ricky Nelson

  Season: 4

  Episode date: Feb. 17, 1979

  Musical guest: Judy Collins

• Debbie Harry

  

  Image Credit: Al Levine/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images

  Season: 6

  Episode date: Feb. 14, 1981

  Musical guest: Debbie Harry

• Bernadette Peters

  Season: 7

  Episode date: Nov. 14, 1981

  Musical guest: The Go-Go’s & Billy Joel

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