History Is Made as Bad Bunny Returns to Saturday Night Live in Back-to-Back Weeks

SNL50 Takes Latin Representation to the Next Level with Bad Bunny, Pedro Pascal, and Marcello Hernández
Credit: YouTube/ Saturday Night Live (Screenshot)

The landscape of late-night television is about to record a first. Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican singer, rapper, and actor, is preparing to return to Studio 8H in a way that no other guest has before. Fresh off the announcement that he will headline the Super Bowl LX halftime show, he will host the Season 51 premiere of Saturday Night Live after appearing in the Season 50 finale as Musical Guest alongside Scarlett Johansson. As per NBC, the half-century run of the program, no one has ever been billed officially in two consecutive episodes, which makes this a landmark moment for both the show and the artist.

Breaking Records and Building a Legacy

Saturday Night Live has featured its share of frequent hosts and familiar faces. Steve Martin, Paul Simon, and Candice Bergen helped define the early years with multiple appearances in one season, and Buck Henry became the first to join the famed Five-Timers Club. Tom Hanks nearly crossed the consecutive-episode threshold in the late 1980s when a writers strike cut Season 13 short, prompting him to return eight months later for the Season 14 opener. Billy Crystal managed something similar, closing one season and starting the next, but his premiere appearance did not count since he had already joined the cast. None of those runs, however, equal the consecutive billing now held by Bad Bunny.

The achievement mirrors the way he has approached his career, where milestones arrive often and at scale. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, his fourth studio album Un Verano Sin Ti stands as the most-streamed album of all time, one of eleven entries connected to his name. His relationship with Saturday Night Live has followed a similar path of steady expansion. He first appeared in 2020 during the SNL At Home period, playing Big Bunny, cousin of David Ortiz in a sketch. He returned the following year as a Musical Guest, later doubled as Host and Musical Guest in 2023, and most recently appeared across multiple SNL 50th anniversary celebrations in February 2025.

During that weekend of festivities, he performed solo, joined the Lonely Island montage, appeared in sketches, and even engaged Amy Poehler and Tina Fey in a Q&A that ended with Poehler telling him, in Spanish, that he was “legit funny.” His Shrek impression in a Please Don’t Destroy sketch became another talking point, proving his comfort with comedy as much as with music.

The Season Ahead and Bad Bunny’s Place in SNL History

For his Season 51 episode, Bad Bunny will leave the music to Doja Cat, who makes her Saturday Night Live debut days after releasing her album Vie. The season continues with celebrations tied to the show’s own legacy. On October 11, the exact date of SNL’s 50th birthday, Amy Poehler will return as host with Musical Guest Role Model. The following week, Sabrina Carpenter will both host and perform, echoing the legacy of Paul Simon, who filled the same dual role fifty years earlier.

The decision to place Bad Bunny at the helm of the new season is not simply about his reach as a musician but also his versatility as a performer. Few artists can move between Latin trap hits, reggaeton anthems, stadium tours, acting credits, and live sketch comedy with ease, yet he has managed to build credibility across each of those spaces. Saturday Night Live has always been a stage where comedy, music, and cultural conversation intersect, and Bad Bunny’s repeated presence signals the program’s recognition of his role in global entertainment.

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