The final monologue of the 51st season of Saturday Night Live kicked off with a temporary case of stolen identity.
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Fans tuning in to the May 16 SNL Season 51 finale soon realized that the episode’s Host, Will Ferrell, wasn’t delivering the opening monologue. It was actually Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, who famously resembles the legendary SNL alum.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you very much, I’m thrilled to be back here hosting Saturday Night Live,” Smith announced, his hair styled exactly like Ferrell’s.
Will Ferrell’s lookalike Chad Smith takes over his May 16 SNL opening monologue
After rattling off his SNL “resume,” Smith was interrupted by a frantic Ferrell.
“He pushed me down backstage,” Ferrell explained. “And I fell hard! Lorne had to give me mouth-to-mouth.”
As Smith tried to cover his tracks (“I’m the Musical Guest tonight!”), it quickly became apparent that the jig was up and he was shooed offstage — even though the episode’s actual Musical Guest, Paul McCartney, wasn’t entirely up to speed.
“Whatcha think you’re doing, Chad?” McCartney asked after Ferrell attempted to get the monologue back on track by taking audience questions.
At that point, Ferrell invited McCartney up on stage with him.
“I understand your confusion. Me and Chad do look alike,” Ferrell explained to the former Beatles member. “But I’m Will, I’m hosting tonight.”
The iconic artist wasn’t convinced.
“Nice try, Chad. Get back behind the drums where you belong,” McCartney shot back.
Smith did, in fact, get back on the drums to back McCartney on three songs, so you could technicallly say that Chad Smith has pulled double duty on SNL.
Ferrell and Smith played up their uncanny resemblance during a May 2014 visit to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, in which the “twins” had a drum-off.
Will Ferrell’s lookalike is the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer
The drummer has been a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1988 and has contributed to ten albums with the band. The 64-year-old artist also drums in a few musical side projects, most notably the funk fusion group Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats and hard rock band Chickenfoot.
In 2013, Spin included Smith in their list of “The 100 Greatest Drummers of Alternative Music.”
The star is also a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — he was inducted as a member of the Chili Peppers in 2012.
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Which songs did Paul McCartney play on SNL?
McCartney pulled off a rare feat during the Season 51 finale, performing three songs instead of the usual two. Playing with Smith and his usual and members, Paul McCartney performed “Days We Left Behind,” “Band on the Run,” and “Coming Up” during goodnights.
In 2025, filmmaker Morgan Neville released Man on the Run, a documentary on McCartney and his post-Beatles career with his Wings band, which Neville worked on in the same year as his Lorne doc.
Has Chad Smith drummed for Paul McCartney before?
Yes. The May 16 Season 51 finale was not the first time Smith and McCartney have shared the same stage.
On August 20, 2024, McCartney made a surprise appearance during one of Chad Smith’s live shows in the Hamptons in New York. The legend joined Smith and his band to perform Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” and the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” to a delighted crowd.
