Mumford And Sons Bring Hozier to Studio 8H as Prizefighter Lands on SNL
Mumford And Sons returned to Saturday Night Live on February 28 for their fourth appearance on the late-night stage, performing songs from Prizefighter. The televised set matters now because the band staged a high-profile, collaborative push for the album days after its February 20 release and underscored the record’s central collaborators live.
Studio 8H Return Marks Fourth SNL Visit
The English folk-rock outfit made its first SNL appearance in eight years, their previous visit coming in 2018 when they promoted Delta. The February 28 broadcast at Studio 8H featured two Prizefighter tracks and an onstage roster that included surprise guests, amplifying the album’s rollout less than two weeks after its release on February 20.
“Rubber Band Man” and Hozier’s Surprise
The band opened with “Rubber Band Man, ” a collaboration that features Irish musician Hozier and was co-written by Brandi Carlile. Hozier walked out to join the live performance, and co-producer Aaron Dessner of the National also appeared onstage. The surprise appearance provided a clear audience reaction: the Studio 8H crowd received the moment as an extra jolt, and the song has spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart.
Marcus Mumford on Prizefighter and Band Dynamics
Marcus Mumford, 39, described Prizefighter several months ahead of its release as his favorite record from the group. He said the band has reached a point where they are comfortable enough to speak plainly — calling this the straightest record they have made and emphasizing that it represents the essence of who they are. Co-founder Ted Dwane, 41, singled out Aaron Dessner’s production work, saying Dessner feels like a real ally; Dwane noted the group had long been fans of The National and first met and worked with Dessner while preparing their third record, Wilder Mind.
“Here, ” Chris Stapleton and Sierra Ferrell Join the Set
The second Prizefighter song the band performed was the album’s opening track, “Here, ” which features Chris Stapleton. Aaron Dessner and singer-songwriter Sierra Ferrell also joined the performance, reinforcing the album’s collaborative character on national television.
Rushmere, Lineup Change and Touring Schedule
Prizefighter is the band’s second album in less than a year; Rushmere was released last March and was the group’s first record as a trio after guitarist and banjoist Winston Marshall left the band in part because of political differences with his bandmates. The group’s touring calendar reflects an international push: scheduled dates in Australia and New Zealand in April, a North American leg beginning in June followed by dates in Europe, and a return to the United States through October that includes headlining Louisville, Kentucky’s Bourbon & Beyond Festival.
Connor Storrie’s Hosting, Rockefeller Center Sketch and Hockey Cameos
The episode was hosted by Connor Storrie, a 26-year-old Canadian actor known for playing Shane Hollander on HBO Max’s Heated Rivalry, and it marked his SNL debut. In his opening monologue Storrie brought members of the U. S. women’s Olympic hockey team — who recently won gold — onto the stage alongside the U. S. men’s squad to play up the contrast with the men’s roughly 40-plus year gold medal drought. A late-night sketch filmed on location at the Rink at Rockefeller Center featured an unannounced cameo from Storrie’s Heated Rivalry co-star Hudson Williams; the two skated together in a sequence that became one of the episode’s most shared moments online. Williams later returned to Studio 8H to join Storrie in introducing the musical guest.
What makes this notable is how the live television platform concentrated the album’s key collaborators and promotional momentum into a single evening: Prizefighter’s February 20 release, high-profile guest appearances, and the band’s first SNL stage in eight years combined to create a compact, national showcase for the record.
