Billie Eilish is officially in the club of Saturday Night Live hosts to also double as the night’s musical act on their own episode. The singer appeared on the late-night show this weekend to make her hosting debut and topped the night off with performances of “Happier Than Ever” and “Male Fantasy.”
Over 47 seasons, Saturday Night Live has only ever had 35 musicians appear as both host and musical guest in the same episode. Eilish joins the likes of Harry Styles, Nick Jonas, Paul Simon, Dolly Parton, Britney Spears, and more.
Eilish’s parents introduced her for the first song of the night, a barrelling performance of “Happier Than Ever.” The stage recreated the airy living space of the track’s music video, first shared alongside the release of the singer’s sophomore album Happier Than Ever. Over the course of the performance, the props and furniture are stripped away until Eilish has a full area of empty space to dump out the intense emotion of the song.
Later in the night, Eilish stripped back even more with a captivating performance of “Male Fantasy,” once again recreating the vision of the song’s music video. She appears under a spotlight in a set resembling a darkened room, with just a small tree and a rug making up the room’s decor and only two windows as additional sources of light. Eilish situated herself on the floor with her brother and collaborator Finneas for “Male Fantasy,” soaking in the stellar vocal performance accompanied only by an acoustic guitar.
While the performance stage was reserved for Billie Eilish the singer, the main stage throughout the night was the playground of an artist who cultivated a large portion of her fanbase on the basis of her personality and knack for comedy alone.
In her opening monologue, Eilish poked fun at the speculation that often surrounds her fashion choices and preference for baggy, oversized clothing. “It wasn’t just for comfort or style for style. This is hard for me to say,” she started. “The real reason I wore big oversized clothes back then is I was actually two kids stacked on top of each other trying to sneak into an R-rated movie.”
Throughout the night, Eilish tried on a number of different characters in skits about Christmas, TikTok, hip-hop, and more.
