Willow’s ‘SNL’ Performance Splits Viewers

Willow made her debut solo performance as Saturday Night Live’s musical guest last night, Oct. 8, with host Brendan Gleeson. The daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith performed two songs from her album COPINGMECHANISM. In “curious/furious,” Willow showed off her guitar skills along with some R&B-rock fusion. However, the 21-year-old artist turned heads during her second song on the broadcast with “ur a stranger,” yelling into a microphone and smashing her guitar into a prop TV screen. COPINGMECHANISM is the follow-up to 2021’s Lately I Feel Everything, which featured Travis Barker and Avril Lavigne. In Willow’s latest album, the only guest performance came from the indie act Yves Tumor.

On Instagram, Willow shared a picture with her fully leather-clad band a few hours before she went live on SNL, with the caption, “It’s called historybeingmade.com.” Last season, she also performed on the late-night sketch show as part of Camilla Cabello’s performing their song “Psychofreak” together. Willow’s appearance on Saturday Night Live follows her tour with Machine Gun Kelly and Avril Lavigne, in which the artists showcased their passion for pop-punk. Her intense showcase prompted many mixed responses from those on social media, with some praising Willow for her dedication to the punk lifestyle and others denouncing the former child star as a beneficiary of nepotism. Read more for the opinionated Twitter takes.

‘I HAD APPROVED THE DECISION MEMO’

The most entertaining comment, by far was from America’s Catmander-In-Chief, Willow Biden. “I was wondering why Marine One never showed up to take me to NY for last night’s #SNL. And then I saw the singer Willow on the show. This was after I HAD APPROVED THE DECISION MEMO for the gig! Fair warning that I’ll be looking for answers at the Monday morning staff meeting.”

‘Destined for music stardom’

A longtime fan of the start praised her performance, tweeting, “Willow Smith getting her Rock Star on. Saw her at @afropunk a few years back and knew she was destined for music stardom.”

‘It was lit’

For one tweeter, Willow impressed even the older generation. “So I’m watching SNL with my grandpa and Willow Smith just here screaming her head off. It was lit though. My papa said #Grunge.” 😂😂😂😂

‘The punkest music played on that stage in decades’

Even so, some viewers were pleased with her performance. “I knew nothing of Willow Smith’s music going into SNL last night and came out thinking that was the punkest music played on that stage in decades. I thought she was great!”

‘Glad that’s over with’

An unimpressed Twitter user wrote, “Hmmmm….. #SNL . About as thrilled w/ musical guest ‘Willow’ as I was when they had on Solange a few years ago. Having a ‘relative’ in the entertainment field is ALL U need to get on SNL. What is Willow screaming & yelling about in this song?!? Whew….glad that’s over with.”

‘ROUGH’

Another posted, “#willow on #snl is ROUGH.it’s that thing when you have too much money and privilege so no one will tell you that you’re not good at something. And she’s definitely not #onename status.”

‘I feel bad for bands that work hard to make it’

One user was too disgusted from what they felt was the nepotism on display. “Literally the only reason willow was able to perform on snl was her dad and mom.. I feel bad for bands that work hard to make it to that stage playing the smallest bars from the start”