SNL50: The Anniversary Special, itself the climax of weeks of celebratory documentaries and live specials celebrating Saturday Night Live, was brought to a rock and roll close by Paul McCartney, who performed a Beatles medley including “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and “The End.” That final song might have been a direct nod to one of McCartney’s most famous appearances on SNL, opposite Chris Farley.
In the February 13th, 1993 episode of SNL, McCartney was the show’s musical guest but also made an appearance on “The Chris Farley Show” (one of the most relatable sketches ever produced if you’ve ever interviewed a celebrity). In the sketch, an awkward Farley asks McCartney a series of awkward questions, ending with a query about the lyrics from the song “The End”: “‘In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.’ Is that true?”
McCartney tells Farley that he does think it’s true, thrilling him. And those lyrics ended up being the very last ones sung during McCartney’s 2025 performance — it has yet to be confirmed as an official nod by the show, but as a potential Easter egg the connection feels pretty obvious. As Cracked points out, there are a lot of other Beatles songs McCartney could have performed that night.
McCartney’s show-closing medley wasn’t the only headline from SNL50, as last Friday’s live-streamed concert included performances from Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard, Eddie Vedder, Lady Gaga, Lauryn Hill and Wyclef, DEVO and the B-52s, Post Malone and Nirvana, David Byrne and Robyn, and Jack White. The anniversary special also featured musical moments from Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter, Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard (again!), and Adam Sandler.
Check out McCartney’s performance — and the sketch that might have inspired it — below.