Kacey Musgraves Wore Only Her Boots and Guitar During ‘SNL’ Performance

Kacey Musgraves took inspiration from Forrest Gump during her Saturday Night Live performance this weekend. She played her single “Justified” while sitting on a stool, with just a guitar and boots visible, making it appear as if she was preforming in the nude. On Saturday, she confirmed the performance was inspired by the scene in Forrest Gump when Jenny (Robin Wright) is performing without any clothes on at a bar. Musgraves even copied the lighting of the scene on SNL.

“Justified” appears on Musgrave’s latest album, Star-Crossed, which was released in September. The album also includes “Camera Roll,” which Musgraves also performed on SNL. That performance also had a unique set-up, as a jeans-wearing Musgraves began the song while sitting behind a desk before moving to the stage.

Star-Crossed is the follow-up to Musgraves’ 2018 album Golden Hour, and is more personal in tone as the lyrics were inspired by her heartache after her divorce from Ruston Kelly in 2020. In an interview with NPR, Musgraves noted that Star-Crossed is still “full of love and gratitude,” but she was at a very different place while recording this one compared to Golden Hour. “You can easily say it is a post-divorce album, which yes, it is factually on paper,” she said. “But this album is full of a lot of love and gratitude for that person, for Ruston, for my life and my ability to explore all the emotions as a songwriter.”

Musgraves wrote every song on the album with Ian Futchuk and Daniel Tashian, although “Justified” was written by Musgraves, Fitchuck, Isley Juber and BJ Burton. The lyrics reflect the “wide range of emotions that I have felt over my healing journey,” she told NPR. There are also some seeds of hope in the record, so it isn’t completely negative.

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“It’s a feeling of confidence and empowerment mixed with extreme fear and sadness and guilt and depression, but hope for the future,” she explained. “But then, yeah, a little bit of anger, a little bit of bargaining, a little bit of struggling to accept where you are. I don’t think that any one emotion or song can really speak for how I feel. That’s why I felt like this album had to be 15 songs. It does unfold in my mind in three acts. That’s kind of the best thing you can do is try to convey how you feel over such a complicated matter.”

SNL began its 47th season on Saturday night, with Owen Wilson as host. This was the second time Musgraves appeared on the show, as she also performed in 2018. On Oct. 9, Kim Kardashian West will host for the first time, with Halsey performing. Rami Malek and Young Thug star in the Oct. 16 episode, while Jason Sudeikis and Brandi Carlile are featured in the Oct. 23 episode.