'SNL': Chris Martin's Surprise Performance Comforts Viewers Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

John Connor Coulston

04/13/2020 09:04 am EDT

Saturday Night Live aired a groundbreaking episode this week, airing content solely recorded in cast members' homes. The episode featured a surprise host in Tom Hanks and even a surprise musical guest, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. Martin's performance was especially unexpected, being as he and his band are not currently gearing up to release a new project. Furthermore, his song selection was another touching twist.

Instead of pulling a song out of his own catalog, Martin opted to cover the Bob Dylan song "Shelter From the Storm." The track was originally recorded by Dylan for 1975's Blood on the Tracks, with no clear, specific meaning for the lyrics. However, Martin's rendition struck a chord with viewers at home, serving as a comforting melody in these trying times.

Most in the virtual audience clearly were moved by the performance, which also featured personal touches to Martin's home to give it more of an SNL feel. Tweets began to pour out on Twitter, thanking Martin for the acoustic rendition of a beloved classic.

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"Chris Martin's pared-down performance on #snl feels... just right, right now," one fan wrote.

"Chris Martin recreating the subway station look of the SNL Stage using handwritten posters is so wholesome," a second viewer wrote.

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"I like this singing by Chris Martin. It's very soothing," a third viewer wrote.

"Ok, Chris Martin's cover of 'Shelter from the Storm' was lovely," a fourth wrote.

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"chris martin put 'entrance to trains' signs behind him just like the snl stage [crying emojis]," another user wrote.

"Wow. Chris Martin doing Dylan in @nbcsnl from home is crushing. Shelter from the storm," a sixth wrote.

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"I didn't know I needed to hear Chris Martin cover Dylan's 'Shelter From The Storm,'" a seventh wrote.

"Okay so Chris Martin really is on #SNLAtHome tonight and all of my problems have been solved," yet another user wrote.

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"Chris Martin's version of 'Shelter from the Storm' just made my week," another approving viewer wrote.

"Chris Martin singing Dylan's 'Shelter From the Storm' with just an acoustic guitar is a wonderful thing," a pleased Twitter user wrote.

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"I'm not a Coldplay fan, but that was well done, Chris Martin," another user wrote.

"Not normally a fan of Chris Martin, but he just killed that Dylan classic on SNL," yet another SNL viewer wrote.

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"Don't usually like Chris Martin much but that Dylan cover was absolute quality," one more SNL viewer tweeted.

Martin's performance will presumably be uploaded to YouTube overnight. The entire episode of Saturday Night Live will be available to stream on Hulu on Sunday morning.

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