NEWS
Live from London, it is Saturday Night Live.
The legendary sketch comedy institution officially launched its UK edition on March 21 with Saturday Night Live UK, featuring former SNL cast member Tina Fey as host and British indie rock group Wet Leg as the episode’s musical guest.
This global expansion of Lorne Michaels’ famous NBC program began with Fey’s opening monologue, which included unexpected cameos from Michael Cera and UK television personality Graham Norton.
“It’s an absolute honour and kind of historic,” Fey told the crowd. “Guys, I am the youngest person to ever host SNL UK!”
During the broadcast, Wet Leg delivered performances of two songs taken from their second album Moisturizer, which opened at Number 6 on Billboard’s Top Rock and Alternative Albums chart and also climbed to Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart in the United Kingdom.
The band first appeared performing the record’s fourth single “Mangetout,” a Grammy nominated song that also earned a place on Billboard’s list of the 20 best UK and Ireland songs of 2025. Later in the show they returned to play the album’s lead single “Catch These Fists.”
After their appearance on SNL UK, Wet Leg will travel back to the United States for a series of major festival dates including Coachella, Governors Ball, Bonnaroo and Outside Lands. Their US tour is scheduled to begin April 15 at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California.
Upcoming episodes of SNL UK have also been confirmed. Wolf Alice will serve as musical guest on the March 28 episode hosted by Jamie Dornan, while Kasabian will perform on the April 2 show with Riz Ahmed as host.
The show is broadcast on Sky in the United Kingdom and is available to stream on Peacock in the United States. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the first episode attracted more than 220,000 viewers on Sky. It was released in the US on March 22 via Peacock.
You can watch Wet Leg’s SNL UK performances below.
Foo Fighters chose not to explain to Josh Freese why he was removed from the band.
The drummer joined Dave Grohl’s group after the passing of Taylor Hawkins in 2022, however he was released from the lineup last summer. Members of Foo Fighters later confirmed they did not feel it was necessary to fully explain the reasoning behind the decision.
Speaking to The Guardian, bassist Nate Mendel explained: “Yeah. We made a decision that it was best for all parties. To get into the personal details [with Freese], of why that didn’t necessarily sync up, just didn’t seem like it was going to benefit anybody. Some things are OK to be like: this is what’s best for us, and we’re going in a different direction.”
Mendel also spoke positively about Freese’s contribution, saying he stepped into a very difficult situation and delivered exactly what the band needed following the heartbreaking loss of Hawkins.
Dave Grohl had previously shared that the choice to part ways with Freese was made collectively, revealing that every member of the band took part in the phone call when the news was delivered.
During a conversation with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, Dave said: “In those six or seven months, as a band, we talked about what to do next, a new direction, and thought, ‘OK, let’s call Josh and let him know that we are going to move on with a different drummer.
“We called, as a band, all of us called, it wasn’t just me.
“Basically, we called Josh, and were like, ‘Hey man, that was awesome. That was such a blast, thank you so much, but we are going to move on and find another drummer.’
“After that, we didn’t make a press release, tweet anything or do interviews. We didn’t say anything. Since then, there’s been a lot of talk about it, but I think Josh said it best when he said that he didn’t feel our music really resonated with him, and that’s really important.”
Since leaving Foo Fighters, Freese has returned to performing with Trent Reznor’s band.
More recently, he also made it clear that fans should not feel bad for him, explaining that he is enjoying being back on stage with Nine Inch Nails again while also appearing at shows with Weezer.
In an interview with Modern Drummer magazine he said: “Someone recently said to me, ‘Man, you’ve had a tough year.’ And I thought, Really? So the Foo Fighters thing is over. Big deal, that was a blip.
“The fact that I’ve been touring with Nine Inch Nails and A Perfect Circle again, playing some shows with Weezer, working in the studio with everyone from Danny Elfman to Billy Idol.
“I feel like I’m back where I belong. Trust me… no one should feel sorry for me.”
Freese did admit that the moment he was told about his departure from the Best Of You rockers came as a surprise.
He recalled: “The day it went down I was hanging out on a day off with A Perfect Circle and the Primus guys. Everyone was in shock and asking me what the hell happened.
"I just remember thinking that I was really grateful to be out there on tour with my friends and with a great crew… playing music I liked with people that I’ve had a long history with.”
