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Ryan Gosling's 2026 'SNL' episode is historic in two surprising ways

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Ryan Britt | Last updated Mar 6, 2026 3:36 PM ET

On Saturday, March 7, Ryan Gosling will return to SNL as a host for the fourth time. It may seem like he's hosted five times, but that's because he made a cameo in April 2024, right before hosting the show properly later that month. A new viral ad for Gosling's upcoming 2026 hosting gig tackles this confusion: Even Ryan Gosling thinks he's about to enter the five-timers club, a long-running joke about celebrities who have hosted SNL at least five times over the course of their career.

After Gosling goes on a hilarious rampage in the new SNL promo, Mikey Day reminds him he's only hosted four times total. But the historic aspects of his upcoming episode, oddly, don't have anything to do with the number of times Gosling has hosted. Instead, it's all about the musical guest: Gorillaz.

The high-concept virtual band has been around since 1998, though the self-titled debut album was released in 2001. Later, 2005's Demon Days also made a splash, particularly the songs "Feel Good Inc." and "Dirty Harry," the latter being the natural successor to their first hit, "Clint Eastwood."

Though real musicians are behind the band, the idea of the group being fictional and entirely animated was novel in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Though obviously, with the rise of AI, a virtual singer or band is very real, making Gorillaz extremely prescient. So, the first historic event with this SNL episode is that SNL has never booked a virtual band before, and Gorillaz is basically the original version of that concept.

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But there's something even more interesting about Gorillaz taking the SNL stage. The lead singer of the band is Damon Albarn, who created Gorillaz with artist Jamie Hewlett back in 1998. Albarn is probably equally famous, if not more famous, for also being the frontman of the band Blur.

And somehow, despite Blur being the second-biggest Britpop band of the '90s (Oasis was clearly number one, at least in terms of American popularity in that subgenre. Sorry!), that band, and Albarn himself, have never performed on Saturday Night Live. So, if you're a Blur fan and Gorillaz fan, this is a big, very historic moment. Not only are we getting the first virtual band on SNL, but it will also be the first appearance of Britpop legend Damon Albarn on the iconic stage in New York City.

What will Gorillaz play on SNL? The Ryan Gosling promo used "Clint Eastwood," which is easily the most famous song for American viewers. But that song is 25 years old, and there are some bangers off their newer albums, including "Orange County" and "The Happy Dictator," both from their newest album.

How to stream Saturday Night Live

During active seasons, SNL airs new episodes on Saturday nights, starting at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC. You can also stream the show on Peacock, assuming you have a Peacock Premium account. If you have a standard account, the episodes are available the next day.