The Strokes have completed four Saturday Night Live musical-guest appearances, with their fifth scheduled for November 7, 2026. Phoebe Bridgers has appeared on the show twice: once as a solo artist in 2021 and once as a member of boygenius in 2023. Her November 14, 2026 booking will be her second solo appearance and third musical appearance overall.
The Short Answer
The totals depend on whether scheduled episodes and group appearances are counted separately:
- The Strokes: Four completed appearances; a fifth is scheduled for November 7, 2026.
- Phoebe Bridgers as a solo artist: One completed appearance; a second is scheduled for November 14, 2026.
- Phoebe Bridgers including boygenius: Two completed appearances; the November booking will bring her overall total to three.
That distinction matters most for Bridgers. boygenius—not Bridgers alone—was the billed musical guest in 2023, but she performed as one-third of the group. The appearance belongs in her broader SNL history without being counted as a solo booking.
The Strokes Are Heading Toward Appearance No. 5
The Strokes are scheduled to return to Studio 8H on November 7, with comedian and actor Druski hosting. SNL announced the pairing as part of a three-episode lineup, and reports on the announcement identify the booking as the band’s fifth turn as musical guest.
That makes the Strokes the veterans of this particular pairing. By the time the November episode airs, the New York band’s relationship with the show will span multiple phases of its career.
Its most recent completed appearance came on October 31, 2020. According to the American Federation of Musicians’ record of SNL performances and SPIN’s contemporary coverage, the Strokes played “The Adults Are Talking” and “Bad Decisions.” Both songs came from The New Abnormal, the album the group had released earlier that year.
The scheduled return arrives six years and one week after that Halloween episode. It also follows the July 24, 2026 release of the band’s seventh studio album, Reality Awaits. Sony Music Canada, the Strokes’ official store and Apple Music document the release, while Sony describes it as the group’s first album in six years.
The timing gives the band a national television stage during a new album cycle, although that connection is an editorial observation: neither SNL nor the Strokes has publicly identified album promotion as the formal reason for the booking. The songs for the episode have not been announced.
Phoebe Bridgers Made Her Solo Debut in 2021
Bridgers first appeared as an SNL musical guest on February 6, 2021. The American Federation of Musicians’ performance record and Pitchfork’s report from the episode identify “Kyoto” and “I Know the End” as her two selections.
The booking came during the era of Punisher, the 2020 album widely described as a breakthrough in Bridgers’ career. Her SNL set captured two sides of that record: the bright momentum of “Kyoto” and the mounting intensity of “I Know the End.”
The latter performance ended with Bridgers striking her guitar against a stage monitor. The moment drew attention beyond the episode itself, but it can sometimes overshadow the more important point in her SNL history: this was her first appearance under her own name.
For counting purposes, the 2021 episode remains Bridgers’ only completed solo musical-guest booking as of October 22, 2026.
She Returned With boygenius
Bridgers came back to the show on November 11, 2023, this time alongside Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus as boygenius. The trio performed “Not Strong Enough” and “Satanist,” according to both the American Federation of Musicians’ record and Pitchfork’s coverage of the episode.
That appearance creates the wrinkle behind the question of how many times Bridgers has performed on SNL. If the count covers every musical performance involving her, the boygenius episode brings her completed total to two. If the count is limited to appearances for which “Phoebe Bridgers” was the billed act, it does not.
Both totals are useful, but they describe different things. Her solo count tracks her career under her own name. Her overall count reflects the fact that boygenius is also a central part of her work—not merely a guest spot added to someone else’s set.
The November Booking Changes Both Bridgers Totals
Bridgers is scheduled to return as a solo musical guest on November 14, 2026, with John Mulaney hosting. The official SNL announcement and reports on the lineup confirm the pairing.
If the episode airs as scheduled, it will become Bridgers’ second solo booking and her third musical appearance when boygenius is included. It will also be her first solo appearance on the program since her 2021 debut.
Like the Strokes, Bridgers will arrive during an active album cycle. Dead Oceans’ discography, Bridgers’ official Bandcamp page and Apple Music list August 14, 2026 as the release date for Lost Weekend, her third solo album. The SNL booking places her back on network television exactly three months later, though the connection between the album and the appearance is an editorial observation rather than a stated explanation from the show or artist.
No songs have been confirmed for the November 14 performance.
Two Different Career Milestones
The upcoming episodes place the Strokes and Bridgers at very different points in their relationships with Saturday Night Live.
For the Strokes, a fifth booking reinforces the band’s status as a recurring musical guest. The November appearance will reconnect the group with the show after a six-year absence and introduce its latest album era to the SNL stage.
For Bridgers, the milestone is more layered. Her history moves from a solo debut in 2021 to a group appearance with boygenius in 2023 and then back to a booking under her own name. Her second solo episode will also be her third time performing on the show in any capacity.
The simplest answer, then, is four completed appearances for the Strokes and two for Bridgers. Once the scheduled November episodes air, those totals will become five for the Strokes and three for Bridgers—with two of Bridgers’ three appearances credited to her as a solo artist.
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