Paul McCartney closed out the 51st season of “Saturday Night Live” with a surprise third performance.
As the cast parted ways, the Beatles musician, 83, returned to the band for a final encore, performing “Coming Up,” the jaunty opener from his 1980 album McCartney II.
Performers from NBC comedy sketch shows were also seen dancing to the song.
McCartney’s first performance was “Days We Left Behind” from his upcoming album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which reflected on his childhood memories growing up in Liverpool.
The second song he performed was “Band on the Run,” the title track from his 1973 album.
It was the first time in almost 14 years that he appeared on the show’s regular season. McCartney last appeared as a musical guest on a regular season episode of SNL in December 2012, when Martin Short hosted the show.
McCartney also appeared in the opening sketch with host Will Ferrell and actor lookalike Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. The bassist then appeared alongside Ferrell, Marcello Hernandez, Mikey Day, and Ashley Padilla in a sketch entitled “What It’s Like to Talk to a Mechanic.”
McCartney plays a head mechanic named Nigel who says to a couple played by Day and Padilla: “You’re tipsy, you’re all wandering around, and you’re wiggling. You’re falling apart. The whole car is falling apart.”
Last year, the legendary singer ended the “SNL” 50th anniversary special with an “Abbey Road” medley.
In an interview with Rolling Stone earlier this year, McCartney reflected on how his upbringing influenced the songwriting for this new project.
“I was just thinking about that, about the days I have left behind. And I often wonder if I only write about the past. But how can I write about anything else?” he said at the time.
“I just have a lot of memories at Liverpool… We didn’t have a lot of anything, but that didn’t matter because everyone was great and I didn’t realize that I didn’t have much,” the keyboardist added.
