Watch Billie Eilish’s Raucous ‘Saturday Night Live’ Performance
Saturday Night Live host Billie Eilish switched gears mid-show with a wreath-smashing rendition of the epic title track, “Happier Than Ever.”
The performance began with Eilish seated backstage in a slouchy black sweater and jeans, her nude-colored nails like talons wrapped around the mic. Eilish sang quietly and alone. But as the camera shifted, the curtains opened to reveal she was actually onstage — apt for a soft song that actually seethes with rage (“You clearly weren’t aware that you made me miserable.”) Standing to her right, Finneas conspicuously swapped his acoustic for a black electric guitar. Let the shredding begin.
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For her second set, Eilish and Finneas returned for the wistful ballad, “Male Fantasy.” This time, it was just brother and sister sitting cross-legged on the carpeted stage. As Finneas strummed his acoustic, all of the focus was on Eilish’s crystalline falsetto — as stark and spare as the Charlie Brown Christmas tree behind them.
As the show’s host and performer, Eilish proved she could hold her own alongside sketch-mates like Kate McKinnon, who played Eilish’s strange neighbor and fellow Business Garden Suites commercial spokesperson. Eilish also played a mean-girl Christmas card, a hip-hop Nativity-scene director, and an oblivious nurse twerking on TikTok. No one can say Eilish doesn’t have range.
In February, Eilish is up for seven Grammy Awards in 2022 for her second album, Happier Than Ever. In 2020, her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? swept the awards ceremony and ranked at 397 on Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
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