Damon Albarn to make ‘SNL’ debut with Gorillaz

Damon Albarn will be performing on Saturday Night Live for the first time with Gorillaz at the beginning of next month.

• READ MORE: Gorillaz – ‘Cracker Island’ review: conventional, but richly satisfying

Gorillaz will be the musical guest on the late night show on March 7, with Ryan Gosling taking the reins as host for the fourth time.

Their appearance on the show will follow the release of their forthcoming album, ‘The Mountain. It has been previewed so far by six singles, ‘The Hardest Thing’, ‘Orange County’, ‘The God Of Lying’ (featuring Idles), ‘The Happy Dictator’ (feat. Sparks), ‘The Manifesto’ with Trueno and late D12 member Proof, and ‘Damascus’.

The latter features Syrian superstar of Bedouin music Omar Souleyman and rapper/singer Yasiin Bey (FKA Mos Def), and was also given a live preview at the huge Together For Palestine charity gig at Wembley Arena, organised by Brian Eno last year.

Other artists who have joined Albarn and Jamie Hewett for the record include Black Thought, Asha Puthli, Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Paul Simonon, Johnny Marr, The London Arab Orchestra, Demon Strings, Chris Storr, James Copus and Matthew Gunner.

MARCH 7
Ryan Gosling
Gorillaz pic.twitter.com/giriyfxnzr

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) February 12, 2026

In March, Gorillaz will head out on a UK and Ireland tour, which includes a one-off headline show at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Before then, the band will also play some warm-up shows in Bradford, and go on to make stops at numerous European festivals over the summer, including Electric Picnic, Primavera Sound Barcelona and Porto, and Rock Werchter. Visit here for tickets.

Last year, Albarn opened up about how the record was partly inspired after both he and Jamie Hewlett lost their fathers and went to India to cope with the grief.

“I did things I’d never done before. I swam in the Ganges in Varanasi. I watched the bodies being burnt on the banks of the Ganges. I took my dad’s ashes there and I cast them in the river. It was very beautiful.”