Mumford And Sons Bring Prizefighter Guests to SNL in Night of Songs and Sketches
The English folk-rock band mumford and sons returned to Saturday Night Live on Feb. 28, 2026, performing two songs from their new album Prizefighter, which was released the same day. The live television set — bolstered by surprise appearances and a brief sketch cameo — served as a high-profile launchpad for a record the band says marks a new degree of directness in their work.
Mumford And Sons on Studio 8H
The band’s appearance aired at 11: 30 PM ET on NBC and marked their fourth time on Saturday Night Live and their first as musical guests since 2018. Marcus Mumford led the trio through two full-number performances and also joined Ben Lovett and Ted Dwane for a brief sketch in which the group performed a snippet of “Unchained Melody. ” Host Connor Storrie, making his first time hosting SNL, framed the episode’s energy; Storrie is best known for playing Ilya Rozanov in HBO’s Heated Rivalry.
‘Rubber Band Man’ with Hozier and Brandi Carlile
The opening number on the broadcast was “Rubber Band Man, ” a track co-written by Brandi Carlile and featuring guest vocals from Hozier. Aaron Dessner, who co-produced Prizefighter, played electric guitar on the live rendition before Hozier emerged from the side of the stage to perform the guest vocal. The single had already enjoyed measurable radio success, spending 10 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart, and Prizefighter has debuted in the top 10 on the Glassnote label.
‘Here’ featuring Chris Stapleton and Sierra Ferrell
The band’s second televised song was “Here, ” the opening track of Prizefighter. On the album that version features Chris Stapleton; for the SNL performance, the band was joined by Sierra Ferrell and Aaron Dessner. Chris Stapleton was not present at Studio 8H that night — he was performing roughly two hours away in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Dress rehearsal, secret show and touring plans
The band had a dress rehearsal at 8: 00 PM before the live broadcast with a lineup of session musicians that included Matt Menefee, Ryan Richter, Aaron Dessner and Rob Moose. During the live show, James McAlister and Darius Christian provided drums and bass. In the run-up to SNL the trio staged a hastily organized secret show at the 500-capacity Music Hall of Williamsburg, performing unamplified and backed by a four-piece string section and additional singers.
Prizefighter is Mumford & Sons’ second album in less than a year, following Rushmere, which was released last March and was the group’s first record released as a trio after guitarist and banjoist Winston Marshall left the band in part due to political differences with his bandmates. The group will begin an extensive world tour on April 24 in Melbourne, with plans to play Australia and New Zealand in April, North America beginning in June, then Europe; they will return to the United States through October and headline Louisville, Kentucky’s Bourbon & Beyond Festival.
Band perspective and production collaborators
Marcus Mumford, 39, described Prizefighter as his favorite of the group’s albums to date and said it felt like the “straightest talking record” the band has made, remarks he shared with People Magazine in the months before release. Co-founder Ted Dwane, 41, praised Aaron Dessner’s production work, calling Dessner “a real ally” and noting the band first connected with him while preparing their third record, Wilder Mind.
The album’s credits list an unusually broad set of collaborators beyond Dessner, with contributions from artists including Hozier and Chris Stapleton as well as Gracie Abrams and Gigi Perez. What makes this notable is the combination of mainstream late-night exposure and a record that the band positions as stripped of artifice: the public debut on SNL coincided with the album’s release and a clear campaign of live dates that begin in April.
Hozier’s appearance on SNL was also notable for timing: it was his first major televised performance since his Unreal Unearth tour wrapped in October 2025. The sequence of rehearsal, a small secret show, and the prime-time SNL slot illustrated a concentrated effort to present Prizefighter in both intimate and large-scale settings.
