On February 22, 2003, Foo Fighters made their third appearance as musical guests on Saturday Night Live and performed “All My Life” and “Times Like These.” When host Christopher Walken introduced the band, the actor, in his distinct intonation, accented the word “Fighters” in the band’s name.
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Walken returned to SNL on Saturday (October 28), 20 years later, to reintroduce Foo Fighters again for the band’s ninth appearance on the show and with less of an accent on “Fighters.”
The show, hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze, marked the band’s first appearance on SNL since the release of their 11th album But Here We Are in 2023, and following the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022.
Saturday also marked Walken’s return to Saturday Night Live for the first time since 2008, in a sketch as the Spirit of Halloween.
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For their first run, the band plowed through “Rescued” from But Here We Are. In between the band’s two slots, Dave Grohl guested in a sketch featuring a woman going into labor on a flight. Dressed as a doctor in costume only, Grohl’s appearance was a light nod to Foo Fighters’ 1999 “Learn to Fly” video.
Grohl also appeared as a disgruntled uncle in another sketch featuring a country trio—Bargatze, and SNL cast members Andrew Dismukes, and James Austin Johnson—singing about their summer pastime on “Lake Beach.”
Prior to their appearance on Saturday, Foo Fighters also got into the Halloween spirit by dressing as characters from the Wizard of Oz and shared a video on their social media accounts.
The band returned for a second song from But Here We Are, “The Glass,” and were joined by H.E.R., who duetted with Grohl on the penetrating track: I had a person I loved / And just like that / I was left to live without him.
Foo Fighters made their first appearance on Saturday Night Live on December 2, 1995, hosted by ER star Anthony Edwards, and performed “I’ll Stick Around” and “For All the Cows” on the episode.
Prior to their appearance Saturday night, Foo Fighters were musical guests on the show seven more times, with their most recent appearance with host comedian Dave Chappelle on November 7, 2020, when they performed “Times Like These” and “Shame Shame.”
Outside of Foo Fighters, Grohl has clocked in several more appearances on SNL throughout the past 30 years. He first appeared on Saturday Night Live with Nirvana on January 11, 1992, and for the band’s second and final appearance on the show in 1993.
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Grohl reappeared on SNL in 1994 drumming for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and again with his supergroup Them Crooked Vultures in 2010.
Photos: Will Heath/NBC
