Paul McCartney closed SNL50: The Anniversary Special with the final three songs from the Beatles’ Abbey Road medley: “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and “The End.” The full 152-minute anniversary special is available on Peacock.
Paul McCartney closed SNL50: The Anniversary Special with the final three songs from the Beatles’ Abbey Road medley: “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and “The End.” It was a concise but symbolically loaded finale, linking Saturday Night Live’s 50-year history with one of popular music’s most recognizable album endings.
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Where to watch Paul McCartney’s SNL50 performance
The full SNL50: The Anniversary Special is available on Peacock. The program is listed as Season 50, Episode 13, with a runtime of 152 minutes. To see McCartney’s performance, watch the closing portion of the special rather than the separate SNL50: The Homecoming Concert, which premiered on February 14, 2025.
What Paul McCartney performed on SNL50
McCartney appeared with his band near the end of the anniversary special, which aired live from New York on February 16, 2025. His set was:
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- “Golden Slumbers”
- “Carry That Weight”
- “The End”
These are not three unrelated Beatles songs assembled for the occasion. They are the concluding section of the extended medley that closes Abbey Road. “Golden Slumbers” moves into “Carry That Weight,” which reprises musical material associated with “You Never Give Me Your Money,” before leading into “The End.”
That distinction matters. McCartney performed the closing three-song portion of the Abbey Road sequence—not every section of the album’s longer medley. The performance worked because those songs already sound like a conclusion: they gather earlier musical ideas, build toward a final statement, and provide an unmistakable ending.
If you want to hear the complete album context before rewatching the performance, The Beatles’ Abbey Road on vinyl presents the sequence in its original album setting. A current edition, pressing, price, and availability should be checked before purchase.
Why “Abbey Road” was an effective SNL50 finale
The choice carried more meaning than a straightforward greatest-hits performance. Abbey Road is built around the idea of a final sequence, and “The End” is one of the most familiar musical closing gestures in the Beatles’ catalog. The songs gave the special a ready-made sense of arrival and farewell without requiring an elaborate explanation onstage.
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McCartney also embodied a connection between two institutions. He is one of the surviving members of the Beatles and has a long relationship with Saturday Night Live. Peacock’s anniversary material traces that relationship to 1980 and notes that McCartney also performed at the SNL40 anniversary event. His appearance at SNL50 therefore connected the program’s early history, its landmark anniversary celebrations, and the musical legacy of the Beatles.
The result was an ending that felt both personal and archival: McCartney was not simply revisiting an old song, but performing the closing passage of an album that has long been understood as a complete final statement.
How the performance fits into the special
SNL50: The Anniversary Special was a live New York celebration of the program’s 50th anniversary. Its scale and long runtime made the final musical number especially important. After a night built around returning cast members, well-known sketches, and appearances from across the show’s history, McCartney’s performance supplied the closing musical punctuation.
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The anniversary special should not be confused with SNL50: The Homecoming Concert. Both were part of the broader 50th-anniversary programming, but they were separate events. The Homecoming Concert took place at Radio City Music Hall and premiered on February 14; the anniversary special aired two days later, on February 16.
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- “Golden Slumbers” begins the final passage with a compact, dramatic arrangement.
- “Carry That Weight” expands the emotional and musical scope while bringing back material from earlier in the Abbey Road medley.
- “The End” provides the sequence’s climactic finish and makes the performance immediately recognizable as an album finale.
Because the songs flow directly into one another, presenting them as a medley preserves the design of the original recording. Breaking them apart would make the set feel more like a collection of individual covers; performed together, they retain the sense of movement and resolution that defines the end of Abbey Road.
Before you rewatch
For the clearest comparison, listen to the original Abbey Road sequence first, then watch the closing performance in the full Peacock special. This makes it easier to hear what McCartney retained: the three-song progression, the reprise within “Carry That Weight,” and the finality of “The End.”
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Viewers looking for a physical copy can also consider an Abbey Road CD rather than vinyl. The article’s central point does not depend on a particular pressing or remaster, and no single current edition should be treated as definitive without checking its release details.
The bottom line
Paul McCartney’s SNL50 appearance was a carefully chosen finale rather than a full performance of the entire Abbey Road medley. By performing “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and “The End,” he brought the Beatles’ album-ending sequence to a 50th-anniversary celebration that also marked his own long association with Saturday Night Live. The full special is available on Peacock; look for McCartney in its closing section.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What songs did Paul McCartney perform on SNL50?
Paul McCartney performed “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and “The End,” the closing three-song portion of the Beatles’ Abbey Road medley.
Where can I watch Paul McCartney’s SNL50 performance?
The full 152-minute SNL50 anniversary special is available on Peacock. McCartney appears in the closing portion of the program.
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Did McCartney perform the entire Abbey Road medley on SNL50?
No. The SNL50 performance used the final three songs of the extended Abbey Road medley, not every section of the album’s longer suite.
Is SNL50: The Anniversary Special the same as The Homecoming Concert?
No. SNL50: The Homecoming Concert was a separate Radio City Music Hall event that premiered on February 14, 2025. The anniversary special aired live from New York on February 16.
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Paul McCartney closed SNL50: The Anniversary Special with the final three-song section of Abbey Road: “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and “The End.” Watch the full 152-minute special on Peacock, taking care not to confuse it with the separate SNL50: The Homecoming Concert.
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