Mumford And Sons Surprise With Hozier, Dessner on SNL
mumford and sons made their fourth appearance on Saturday Night Live, performing two songs from their new album Prizefighter and bringing surprise guests onstage. The band opened with “Rubber Band Man” and later played the album’s opening track “Here, ” with multiple collaborators joining them for the taping.
Mumford And Sons on SNL
The English folk rock trio returned to the show on Feb. 28 for what was billed as their fourth appearance. They performed “Rubber Band Man, ” which features Hozier and was co-written by Brandi Carlile, and the opening track of Prizefighter, “Here, ” which on the album features Chris Stapleton. For the live taping, Sierra Ferrell sang on “Here” in place of Stapleton’s studio vocal, and Aaron Dessner provided backup on both songs; Dessner is credited as a co-producer of Prizefighter.
Hozier and Dessner Join Stage
Hozier joined the band onstage to sing his parts from “Rubber Band Man, ” emerging from side stage to reprise his guest vocal. It was Hozier’s first major appearance since wrapping his Unreal Unearth tour in October 2025. Dessner augmented the trio’s live sound, at one point playing electric guitar with the group.
Prizefighter and Rushmere Context
Prizefighter is the band’s most recent release and marked a top 10 debut. Marcus Mumford, 39, has described Prizefighter as his favorite of the group’s albums thus far, saying that at this stage they are comfortable enough to “talk straight. ” Mumford said the record is “the straightest talking record I think we have, ” and called it “the closest to the essence of who we are, ” adding that the album doesn’t feel like it has much “edifice” and is “just f—ing us and our mates. ” The new album follows Rushmere, released last March, which 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.
Ted Dwane on Dessner’s Work
Co-founder and bassist Ted Dwane, 41, praised Dessner’s production work, saying, “Dessner, he just feels like a real ally. ” Dwane added that the band had long been fans of Dessner’s group and that they met and worked with him while preparing their third record, Wilder Mind.
Sketches, Cameos and Monologue
The episode was hosted by Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie in his first time as host. Storrie, a fictional hockey player, included cameos in his monologue from U. S. Olympic hockey gold medalists Jack and Quinn Hughes from the men’s team and Hilary Knight and Megan Keller from the women’s team. Knight said, “It was gonna be just [the women], but we thought we'd invite the guys too, ” a reference to the prior weekend’s controversy when Donald Trump undermined the women’s hockey team during a congratulatory call to the men’s team. The women’s team declined Trump’s invite to that week’s State Of The Union address, technically citing their travel schedule, and received an invite to party with Flavor Flav in Las Vegas instead.
Secret Warm-Up and Backing Players
The band warmed up for the broadcast with a hastily organized secret show on Tuesday at the 500-capacity Music Hall of Williamsburg, performing unamplified while backed by a four-piece string section and extra singers. For the SNL taping, the Mumfords were also supported by additional musicians including Matt Menefee, Ryan Richter, James McAlister, Darius Christian, Lessie Conner, Kylie Resnick, and Rob Moose.
