Paul McCartney Teases His Fifth ‘SNL’ Set as Will Ferrell and Marcello Hernandez Joke About ‘Despacito’

Paul McCartney is set to return to Saturday Night Live as musical guest for the fifth time, and the timing gives the booking a particular kind of symmetry: it lands almost 46 years to the day after his SNL debut on May 17, 1980.

That anniversary alone would be enough to frame the moment, but the new promos for this weekend’s episode add a bit of absurdist SNL energy to the occasion. McCartney appears alongside host Will Ferrell, an alum returning for his sixth stint as host, and current cast member Marcello Hernandez. McCartney is there to support The Boys of Dungeon Lane, his upcoming 21st solo studio album, which arrives on May 29. Still, Ferrell and Hernandez are less interested in the new record than in guessing the one song they swear he might play.

“Sir Paul, everyone’s wondering what songs you’re going to play on Saturday,” Hernandez says in the promos. McCartney keeps it simple: “I won’t tell.” Ferrell then proposes a game, asking whether McCartney would confirm their guess if they say it at the same time. McCartney agrees. On the count of three, the pair blurt out, “Despacito” remix featuring Justin Bieber!”

McCartney’s reaction is suitably deadpan shock. “Damn, how’d you know?” he says, playing along with the joke about the Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee hit, which spent a then-record-tying 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2017.

This weekend appearance extends a long running SNL history for McCartney, who has also performed on both the show’s 40th and 50th anniversary specials. Ferrell, meanwhile, has his own institutional connection to the program after seven seasons as a cast member from 1995 to 2002, making this return feel less like a cameo than a reunion with the show’s own history.

Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and streams on Peacock.