DVR Rewind | Music Of Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary

From the beginning of last night’s Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary special through its conclusion three-and-a-half hours later, there were plenty of notable musical moments. The special started off with Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon teaming up for a song and dance number that took us through the history of Saturday Night Live and came to a close with Paul Simon’s stirring rendition of “Still Crazy After All These Years.” Along the way, we were treated to performances by Paul McCartney, Miley Cyrus and Kanye West as well as a phenomenal musical-comedy tribute highlighted by Bill Murray’s return as lounge singer Nick Ocean.

SNL is known for its “cold opens” and who better to kick off the 40th anniversary episode than Jimmy and Justin? The pair offered a “History of Rap”-esque rundown of some of the shows best sketches and key moments. There were cameos from Rachel Dratch’s Debbie Downer and Molly Shannon’s Mary Katherine Gallagher. Check it out:

Keith Richards introduced McCartney, who performed “Maybe I’m Amazed” with his band. While Paul struggled to hit the high notes at first, he pulled it together:

Miley Cyrus deconstructed Paul Simon’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover”:

Kanye West performed a medley of “Jesus Walks,” “Only One” & “Wolves”:

Here’s Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These Years”:

Finally, one of our favorite parts of the marathon special was when Martin Short and Maya Rudolph as Beyonce led a tribute to the musical-comedy moments on Saturday Night Live. The best part was when Bill Murray donned his Nick Ocean gear to sing the theme song to Jaws:

After the special, many of the performers gathered at an after-party that featured Prince, Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney as part of the house band. Head here for more on the wild post-show action.