The boundary pushing virtual band Gorillaz made a rare television appearance this weekend on Saturday Night Live, delivering a performance that bridged the group’s earliest breakthrough with its latest musical chapter.
The March 7 episode of the long running NBC sketch show was hosted by actor Ryan Gosling, who returned to Studio 8H for his fourth time hosting the program while promoting his upcoming science fiction film Project Hail Mary, which is scheduled to hit theaters on March 20.
Gorillaz served as the night’s musical guest, marking the band’s first appearance on the show since the project launched in 2001.
The project created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett performed two songs that highlighted the wide arc of the band’s career.
Gorillaz opened their set with “Clint Eastwood,” the lead single from their self titled 2001 debut album Gorillaz. The song remains one of the group’s most recognizable tracks and helped introduce their genre blending mix of hip hop, alternative rock, dub influenced grooves, and electronic production to a global audience.
The performance featured a guest appearance from Del the Funky Homosapien, who originally delivered the song’s rap verses when the track was first released more than two decades ago. The song’s distinctive melody is famously inspired by the theme from the 1966 spaghetti western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly starring Clint Eastwood.
After revisiting their early era, Gorillaz shifted to newer material with “The Moon Cave,” a track from their latest album The Mountain. The performance brought several collaborators to the stage, including singer Asha Puthli, rapper Black Thought of The Roots, and sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar.
The Mountain, released February 27, follows the band’s 2023 album Cracker Island and continues Gorillaz’s long tradition of collaboration driven songwriting. The 15 track record features guest artists on every song and incorporates global influences including Indian classical instrumentation and multilingual lyrics.
The album also includes posthumous contributions from several late artists, including Bobby Womack and Dave Jolicoeur of De La Soul on “The Moon Cave.”
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Albarn explained that the record was shaped by themes of mortality and reflection following several personal losses. The creative process was also influenced by a trip to India that helped shape the album’s sonic palette.
Since debuting in 2001, Gorillaz have remained one of the most unconventional projects in modern pop music. The animated band has blended hip hop, electronic music, alternative rock, and world music influences while collaborating with artists across genres and generations.
The group will soon bring their new material to the stage. Gorillaz are scheduled to launch The Mountain Tour later this month in the United Kingdom before heading to major festival appearances including Primavera Sound in Barcelona and Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta.
More than two decades after “Clint Eastwood” first introduced the world to the animated band, their SNL debut served as a reminder of how far the project has traveled while continuing to evolve.
