Paul McCartney came full circle on Saturday Night Live. On May 16, the Beatles legend was the musical guest on the NBC variety show, where he performed his new song “Days We Left Behind” as well as the 1970s Wings classic “Band on the Run.” The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith played drums during the two performances, and fans assumed that would be it.
But at the end of the show, after standing on the Studio 8H stage for the traditional “good nights” alongside host Will Ferrell, McCartney walked over to the musical stage where Smith and the rest of the backup band awaited. It was there that the 83-year-old music legend went into a surprise encore of his 1980 hit “Coming Up.” The expected performance caused the “good nights” segment to go over as the SNL cast danced on the main stage.
“Coming Up,” the opening track from McCartney’s 1980 solo album, McCartney II, actually made its debut on SNL exactly 46 years earlier. The May 17, 1980, episode of the late-night sketch show featured Steve Martin as the host and Paul and Linda McCartney as the musical guests, per IMDb. As part of the appearance, McCartney’s “Coming Up” music video premiered on SNL.
McCartney’s song launch came after he appeared in an unusual interview sketch with Don Novello’s iconic SNL character Father Guido Sarducci, according to Rolling Stone. The “Coming Up” music video then aired on the live show, one day before McCartney’s second solo album was released in the U.S.
Rolling Stone described the colorful pre-MTV music video, which showed McCartney dressed as different characters playing all of the instruments, as “quite innovative for its time” and “fresh and New Wave–y.”
In a video clip, McCartney said the drummer character he played in the music video was “based loosely on” Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, while one of the guitar players was inspired by Hank Marvin. “So I based the characters on some people I knew, some people I saw,” he said.
A live version of “Coming Up” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 28, 1980, making it one of McCartney’s most successful solo singles.
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