Lorne Michaels pulls curtain back on that Sabrina Carpenter, Paul Simon 'SNL50' duet Anna Kaufman, USA TODAYAugust 22, 2025 at 11:03 PM Months after "SNL50," the starstudded celebration of half a century of "Saturday Night Live," Lorne Michaels is pulling back the curtain on some of its major moment...
- - Lorne Michaels pulls curtain back on that Sabrina Carpenter, Paul Simon 'SNL50' duet
Anna Kaufman, USA TODAYAugust 22, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Months after "SNL50," the star-studded celebration of half a century of "Saturday Night Live," Lorne Michaels is pulling back the curtain on some of its major moments.
In a new interview with Puck News, the show's longtime producer said that an opening duet between Sabrina Carpenter and Paul Simon was in the works long before it hit the air.
Carpenter, 26, and Simon, 83, teamed up for a rendition of the latter's "Homeward Bound" to kick off the anniversary special. Prior to the first chords, the pop star joked that neither she nor her parents had been born when Simon first performed the song on "SNL" in 1975 with George Harrison.
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"I spoke to Paul Simon about it, and then he got a call from Sabrina Carpenter, who wanted him to do a song with her on her special," Michaels said, revealing a little-known backstory. "And he said, 'I don't think I want to do that. Would you take that to Radio City?' So (the opening number) started back then, it was in my head. And then it migrated."
The pairing, he said, helped to ground the image that "SNL" could be a multi-generational affair.
"It resonated with the audience that was there because for a lot of them, (SNL) was a home for five to 10 years. (The performance) let the audience know what the show is," he said. "It's now and it's then."
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Michaels, 80, also revealed that some of the lyrics of the beloved Simon song had been tweaked to match Carpenter's sensibilities.
"I don't know whether you noticed it, but the original lyric is 'cigarettes and magazines,'" Michaels said. "Paul changed it because (Sabrina) didn't want to sing 'cigarettes.' And I thought, 'Oh, that's the difference in this generation.'"
Sabrina Carpenter attends SNL50: The Anniversary Special on Feb. 16, 2025, in New York City.
"It was a slight change," he added. "I don't think anyone would have noticed it, but it was an accommodation between generations. Not that he was attached to the lyric, particularly."
The anniversary special, which aired in February alongside the star-studded concert, celebrated a sketch comedy show that has become an important stop on any artist's press tour and a career-launcher in the world of comedy.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sabrina Carpenter, Paul Simon 'SNL50' duet hid this lyric change
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