Jelly Roll Makes His SNL Debut as Hacks' Hannah Einbinder Cameos to Introduce Him with Host Jean Smart

The musician performed two songs from his forthcoming album 'Beautifully Broken' during the season 50 premiere of 'SNL'

Jelly Roll Makes His Saturday Night Live Debut Jean Smart and hannah einbinder
(L) Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder (R) Jelly Roll. Photo:

Saturday Night Life/YouTube

Live from Studio 8H, it's Jelly Roll!

The musician, 39, made his Saturday Night Live debut on Sept. 28, when he served as musical guest during the comedy series' milestone season 50 premiere, which was hosted by Jean Smart.

Jelly Roll's first performance featured a surprise cameo in the form of Smart's Hacks costar Hannah Einbender, who appeared alongside the host to introduce the singer for his song "Liar" from his forthcoming album, Beautifully Broken.

Dressed in a gray embellished denim jacket, a black top and black pants, Jelly Roll put his impressive vocals on display with a performance that featured a unique set-up of his band lined up on each side behind him, with singers then standing on a slightly raised platform behind each line of the band.

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Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord, later sang "Winning Streak," another song from his soon-to-be-released LP.

The star previously expressed his excitement about his SNL gig, writing in a post, "The premiere of the 50th season of SNL. BRB going to cry for a few hours and call every family member I have. Bringing therapeutic music to my favorite show ever. God is Good."

Jelly Roll's SNL performance took place shortly after the star recently revealed that he wants to pursue acting projects.

While speaking with PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly on the red carpet ahead of the 2024 Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 15, the father of two said he specifically wants to jump into a television series so he could return to the awards show in the future, after he called his first time at the event "the coolest experience."

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Jelly Roll appears backstage at iHeartRadio LIVE with Jelly Roll: A Special 9/11 Tribute at iHeartRadio Theater on September 11, 2023
Jelly Roll in September 2023.

Kevin Winter/Getty

"It's crazy, man," he said. "I want to be in a TV show now so I can come here every year, dude. I'm calling all my country music friends and telling them, 'We are missing the mark, dude. We gotta be at the Emmys.' "

During the annual awards show, Jelly Roll performed as part of the In Memoriam segment, where he sang his original song “I Am Not Okay."

SNL announced the cast for its landmark season earlier this month.

Returning cast members Marcello Hernandez, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker were promoted to the main cast after two years each as featured players, while Punkie Johnson, Chloe Troast and Molly Kearney have all stepped away. Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline, meanwhile, have been added to the sketch comedy show's roster.

Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, James Austin Johnson, Colin Jost, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang round out the remainder of the cast.

Other hosts and musical guests announced so far for SNL's season 50 include Nate Bargatze with Coldplay, Ariana Grande with Stevie Nicks, Michael Keaton with Billie Eilish and John Mulaney with Chappell Roan.

Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30 p.m. ET on weekends on NBC. Jelly Roll's latest album, Beautifully Broken, will be available to purchase and stream on Oct. 11.

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