Chris Stapleton Should Host SNL
Yeah, we said it: Chris Stapleton should host SNL. Last night, Chris Stapleton was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live for the third time. He’s previously performed on January 16, 2016 (the host was Adam Driver) and January 27, 2018 (the host was Will Farrell). Last night was epic number three – which reminds us: they should give those “5 Timer” robes to musical performers, not just hosts. Give them something to shoot for!
Seriously, though: last night, Stapleton proved — again — that he’s one of the best live acts, in any genre, of his generation. His first performance of the night was “White Horse.” Backed by his incredible band, including his wife Morgane Stapleton, it gave any rock band a run for their money. And of course – unlike many SNL performers – it was all live. As one fan pointed out on X (formerly Twitter), “During the outro solo to White Horse @ChrisStapleton hit an almost imperceptible clam and made a sour face. The guy is supremely talented and I absolutely love s— like this because that’s how I know it’s a genuine, live performance and I can see how much he cares.”
When Stapleton returned to the stage, it was by himself with just his acoustic guitar, for “Moutains of My Mind.” Both songs are from Stapleton’s Higher, which was released on November 10, 2023. While artists tend to play Saturday Night Live right around the album release time, Stapleton seems to be getting the status of musicians who SNL is always happy to invite. That unofficial club includes Dave Grohl (who has played nine times with the Foo Fighters, and also with Nirvana, his one-off band Them Crooked Vultures and even once as the drummer of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) and Jack White (who appeared once with his former band the White Stripes and four times as a solo artist).
Of course, plenty of great musicians can serve up incredible performances. But in the skit/music video “Get That Boy Back,” Stapleton shows that he can be hilarious, too. A three-woman country trio, played by cast members Ego Nwodim, Chloe Fineman and Chloe Troast, start a revenge-anthem about a guy who left them. It has hints of Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood’s “Somethin’ Bad” and Underwood’s “Before He Cheats.” There’s even a line, “I took my keys to his Chevy pickup,” echoing Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” line, “I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped-up four-wheel drive.”
But whilie Nwodim and Fineman’s characters sing about relatively normal (if not quite legal) means of revenge, Troast takes it to another level, singing “My man left and he didn’t treat me kind/Ya’ll can mess with his truck, I’ll destroy his mind!” The boyfriend, of course, is played by Stapleton, and his character endures a lot over the next three minutes. She replaces his shoes with larger sized ones, making him wonder, “Are these different, or am I shrinking?” She then convinces his mom (Heidi Gardner) that her house is haunted, and she decides to move in with her son. And it gets even weirder from there: Troast’s brother, played by host Ryan Gosling, an ex-CIA agent trained in psychological torture makes things even worse. Stapleton is hilarious throughout.
He’s been game to try funny stuff on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. When he played a member of ZZ Top in the “First Drafts of Rock” series, it was a bit of a swing and miss, but Fallon and Stapleton’s duet “A Film By Nancy Meyers” was funnier. Last night, though, was next level and we want to see more. The next episode of Saturday Night Live will see pop singer Dua Lipa doing double duty as host and musical guest, and here’s hoping they offer that chance to Stapleton in the future.
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