Saturday Night Live is ending its 37th season with a bang. Last week, classic alum Will Ferrell hosted the show, reprising his parody of George W. Bush, and the 100th SNL Digital Short was aired.
Things look to get even bang-ier with this Saturday's season finale, featuring Mick Jagger taking the reins as both host and musical guest. Jagger won't be performing with The Rolling Stones; instead he's getting a little help from Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, and possibly Jeff Beck.
The musical legacy of SNL has been hit-and-miss, at best (ahem, Ashlee Simpson and Lana Del Rey; hello, Sinead and that picture of the Pope), but this performance has serious potential. Hopefully, Jagger, Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, and Beck will be half as great as the following seven collaborations.
Queen, Elton John, and Axl Rose -- "Bohemian Rhapsody"
The Freddie Mercury concert took place five months after the singer's death and featured an array of musical talent -- Roger Daltrey, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Robert Plant, James Hetfield, and so on. Freddie Mercury is irreplaceable, but Elton and Axl do a pretty great job of covering "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Eminem -- "Stan" (featuring Elton John)
I'm fairly certain that Elton John can do no wrong. He has collaborated with more than 30 stars so far, including Billy Joel, George Michael, Leonard Cohen, and RuPaul. It just goes to show how varied John's talents are. Sir Elton sang Dido's part at the 2001 Grammy Awards and it was stunning.
The Joe Strummer Tribute
Another great Grammy moment had some of rock's leading performers playing "London Calling" as a tribute to the late Joe Strummer in 2003. It's not often that Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zant, Dave Grohl, Pete Thomas, and Tony Kanal join forces, but I bet Joe Strummer would have been flattered.
Bruce Springsteen -- "This Land Is Your Land"
Like Elton John, The Boss has his share of fantastic collaborations. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band invited a bunch of musical guests on stage at South by Southwest for a rendition of Woody Guthrie's classic "This Land Is Your Land." Guests included members of Arcade Fire, Tom Morello, and Joe Ely.
Really, how can you not sing along to this song?
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga -- "The Lady Is a Tramp"
Talk about the perfect "opposites attract" scenario. Gaga still looks weird as hell, but for once she doesn't stutter or raise up her claws. Beneath all the crazy, she's actually got a fantastic voice.
Blakroc -- "Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)"
Aerosmith teamed up with Run-D.M.C., and Anthrax and Public Enemy joined forces to create some great rock/rap collaborations. The Black Keys continue this tradition with the Blakroc project, in which they work with a number of hip-hop musicians.
The Lonely Island -- "I'm on a Boat" (featuring T-Pain)
Honorable mention: because no boat trip is complete without your best friend, some flippy-floppies, and T-Pain.
