NPR partially chalks this up to the fact that, since it was a last-minute get, White didn’t have anything to promote: “a veteran star without much to promote or prove, popping by with the sole objective of putting on the best show humanly possible.” Another factor that makes this such a memorable show is that White honored Eddie Van Halen, the legendary guitarist who had recently passed at the time. That blue guitar he played with was custom designed by Halen and White. As White says on his Instagram: “I thought it could be a nice gesture for me to use this blue Eddie Van Halen model guitar for one of the songs tonight on SNL. The guitar was designed by Eddie (with a few customizations I had added). Eddie was very kind to me and saw to it that this guitar was made for me to my specs. I won’t even insult the man’s talent by trying to play one of his songs tonight. Thanks again Eddie for this guitar and rest in peace sir.” Not wanting people to get too comfy, Nirvana followed up “Teen Spirit” with “Territorial Pissings,” a song that wasn’t as radio-friendly. And ensuring no one would call them sellouts by appearing on SNL, they ended the show with Krist Novoselic tossing his bass guitar in the air, Dave Grohl slamming his drum onto the stage, piece by piece, and Kurt Cobain slamming his guitar into an amplifier to generate loud feedback. Chef’s kiss. It wound up working out for Costello because he was invited back for the show’s 25th-anniversary show to “interrupt” the Beastie Boys and play “Radio, Radio” once more. So when Ye performed “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” on SNL in May of 2013, it was the first taste of one of his best albums. Yeezus wouldn’t be released for another month, and the intense show on SNL was the perfect buildup to it. “Like a lot of kids who came of age in the eighties, I watched the North Carolina native Joey Arias and his close friend Klaus Nomi, the late German-born performance artist, back David Bowie on Saturday Night Live while singing “TVC 15,” in December 1979. It was a seminal moment. There, on the small screen, was sexuality shown as a fluid, not fixed thing, and in such beautifully tailored costuming, too.” But whether you’re talking about the 1981 or 2006 appearance, Prince always gave 100% for a show. Both are incredible performances from an amazing showman.
