Lady Gaga Unleashes ‘Mayhem’ on ‘SNL’ With Performances of ‘Abracadabra’ & ‘Killah’: Watch
Lady Gaga brought mayhem to 30 Rock.
Just one day after the release of her seventh album, Mayhem, the 38-year-old pop icon and actress took on double duty as both host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live on March 8.
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The evening opened with a hilarious monologue where Gaga poked fun at her movie Joker: Folie à Deux and even referenced her previous SNL hosting debut in 2013, which featured a guest appearance by the now-imprisoned R. Kelly. Amid a series of comedic sketches, the night shifted into high gear as the 14-time Grammy winner delivered two electrifying performances from her long-awaited new album.
Gaga opened with an impressively choreographed performance of the dance-pop anthem “Abracadabra,” wearing a sparkly red ensemble and surrounded by dancers in black with long red wigs, who spun around her inside a small, neon-lit structure. For her next performance of the funk-inspired “Killah,” Gaga started off backstage at Studio 8H, before moving to the main stage for a full-on, colorful dance party with a live band. She ended with an electrifying finish, rocking out next to the drum kit in a fiery display.
Gaga’s SNL appearance arrived more than a decade after she first hosted the show in 2013.
Mayhem arrives on the heels of a successful 2025 for Gaga, which saw her chart-topping collaboration with Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile.” The song spent five weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, marking her second-longest-running No. 1 hit after 2011’s “Born This Way.” She also won a Grammy for best pop duo/group performance alongside Mars.
The new album features a diverse mix of production collaborators, including Andrew Watt, Cirkut and Gaga’s fiancé, Michael Polansky. In a recent interview with Billboard, she discussed the creative process behind Mayhem, explaining that its chaotic vibe was intentional.
“There have been times in my career where I had an idea in terms of how to conceptually approach a record. But I would say that this album, from start to finish, was like pieces coming together,” she said. “I did not want to turn it into anything artificial, I really wanted to allow myself to just follow the music. By doing that, it started to slowly remind me of my earlier work.”
Watch Lady Gaga’s SNL performances below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.
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