They say age is just a number, and two superstars making high-profile TV appearances this month on programs that traditionally cater to young audiences prove the point.
When Cher appears as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on Saturday, she’ll make a little history. At 79, she’ll be the second-oldest musical guest in the show’s 50-year-plus history. Ragtime pianist Eubie Blake was 92 when he was the musical guest (alongside Gregory Hines) on the March 19, 1979, show.
Blake had a late-in-life resurgence in popularity thanks to the 1978-79 Broadway musical Eubie!, which showcased his ebullient songs, such as “I’m Just Wild About Harry” and “Shuffle Along.” Cher, by contrast, has just always been there, never far removed from a hit record, TV show, movie or tour in the more than 60 years she has been a star. Earlier today, the Recording Academy announced that she will receive a lifetime achievement award at their Special Merit Awards ceremony on Jan. 31, the afternoon before the 68th Grammy Awards.
This will be Cher’s second appearance as the musical guest on SNL. She first guested on Nov. 21, 1987, one month before Moonstruck opened, singing her hits “We All Sleep Alone” and “I Found Someone.”
On Dec. 31, Diana Ross will be the headline attraction on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest. She’ll perform live from Times Square near midnight, when the show’s audience is at its peak. (Carrie Underwood filled that prime spot on last year’s show.) Ross is 81, a shade older than Cher, and in the same way, she has been a welcome part of our lives since the 1960s.
Ross landed her first career No. 1 hit on the Hot 100, The Supremes’ “Where Did Our Love Go,” in August 1964. Cher landed her first career No. 1, Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” almost exactly one year later.
Here’s a list of musical guests on SNL who were 70 or older at the time. They are listed in ascending order:
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Paul McCartney
Age: 70
Date: Dec. 15, 2012
Host: Martin Short
Songs Performed: “My Valentine,” “Cut Me Some Slack,” “Wonderful Christmastime”
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Bruce Springsteen (and the E Street Band)
Age: 71
Date: Dec. 20, 2020
Host: Timothée Chalamet
Songs Performed: “Ghosts,” “I’ll See You in My Dreams”
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Stevie Nicks
Age: 76
Date: Oct. 12, 2024
Host: Ariana Grande
Songs Performed: “The Lighthouse,” “Edge of Seventeen”
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Paul Simon
Age: 77
Date: Oct. 13, 2018
Host: Seth Meyers
Songs Performed: “Can’t Run But,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
Notes: Simon performed with ymusic, a chamber ensemble sextet. During the goodnights, the crew rolled out a birthday cake for Simon, who turned 77 that day.
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Elton John (and Brandi Carlile)
Age: 78
Date: April 5, 2025
Host: Jack Black
Songs Performed: “Little Richard’s Bible,” “Who Believes in Angels?”
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Cher
Age: 79
Date: Dec. 20, 2025
Host: Ariana Grande
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Eubie Blake (and Gregory Hines)
Age: 92
Date: March 10, 1979
Host: Gary Busey
Songs Performed: “Low-down Blues,” “I’m Just Simply Full of Jazz,” “I’m Just Wild About Harry”