Mumford And Sons Return to SNL, Bring Hozier and Aaron Dessner for 'Rubber Band Man' and 'Here'
Mumford And Sons returned to Studio 8H on February 28 with a two-song set drawn from their new album Prizefighter, and the night’s most electric moment came when Irish musician Hozier stepped out to join the band for “Rubber Band Man. ” The appearance underscored the album’s collaborative production and comes as the group prepares a spring and summer tour across three continents.
Studio 8H: Fourth SNL Appearance and a Surprise Guest
The band’s appearance on Saturday Night Live marked their fourth time on the show and their first since 2018, when they had visited to promote the album Delta. The Feb. 28 set opened with “Rubber Band Man, ” a track co-written by Brandi Carlile that has spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart. Hozier’s unannounced entrance amplified the performance, giving the Studio 8H crowd a palpable jolt and punctuating the live segment.
Marcus Mumford’s Message and the Making of Prizefighter
Marcus Mumford, 39, has called Prizefighter his favorite of the group’s albums. He said several months before the record’s release that the band reached a point in their careers where they were more comfortable being direct, and that the album felt like the closest representation of the band’s essence. That candid creative direction is reflected in the album’s production choices and in the guests who joined the SNL performances.
Aaron Dessner, Brandi Carlile and Guest Vocalists on Stage
Aaron Dessner, co-producer of Prizefighter and a member of The National, joined Mumford And Sons on stage for the SNL performances; co-founder Ted Dwane, 41, praised Dessner’s work and described him as a real ally. “Rubber Band Man” featured Hozier, while the set’s second song, the album opener “Here, ” featured Chris Stapleton and included Dessner and singer-songwriter Sierra Ferrell onstage with the band.
Connor Storrie’s Hosting, Monologue Moments and a Rink Cameo
The episode was hosted by 26-year-old Connor Storrie, the Canadian actor known for playing Shane Hollander on HBO Max’s Heated Rivalry. In his opening monologue Storrie brought members of the U. S. women’s Olympic hockey team — fresh from a gold-medal run — onto the stage alongside the U. S. men’s squad to play up their recent triumph for comic effect. A late sketch filmed at the Rink at Rockefeller Center featured an unannounced cameo from Storrie’s Heated Rivalry costar Hudson Williams; Williams later returned to Studio 8H to join Storrie in introducing Mumford And Sons for the musical segment.
Tour Dates, Recent Releases and Band Lineup Changes
Prizefighter was released on February 20 and is the band’s second album in less than a year; Rushmere arrived the previous March and was the group’s first record as a trio after guitarist and banjoist Winston Marshall left the band in part due to political differences with his bandmates. Mumford And Sons are scheduled to tour Australia and New Zealand in April, begin a North American leg in June before heading to Europe, and will return to the United States through October to headline Louisville, Kentucky’s Bourbon & Beyond Festival.
Performance Impact and What It Signals
The sequence — opening with a chart-topping collaborative single, bringing co-producer Dessner onstage and featuring multiple guest vocalists — made clear that Prizefighter’s sound and promotion lean heavily on outside collaborators. What makes this notable is how those collaborations translate live: Hozier’s surprise appearance not only underscored the single’s radio success but also turned the SNL slot into a moment that elevated the new album’s profile at a critical moment in its release cycle.
Other set highlights included additional Prizefighter material such as “The Banjo Song” and “Here, ” and a return to the national late-night stage that the band first used to spotlight Delta. Marcus Mumford also brought his guitar to his wife Carey Mulligan’s SNL monologue, a detail that threaded the evening’s personal and musical elements together.
