‘SNL’: Machine Gun Kelly Reveals Another Live Mishap That Played to His Benefit

Machine Gun Kelly made his Saturday Night Live debut over the weekend in what was the first episode of 2021 for the series. He kicked off his two-song appearance with one of his most popular singles going, “my ex’s best friend.” The high energy song was mellowed out with his performance of “Lonely,” which saw just him, his guitar and a spotlight on him and his band members. It turns out that the darkened stage was not the actual plan for the performance.

On Twitter after the show aired, Kelly revealed that a mishap behind the scenes led to what viewers saw. “10 seconds before we played ‘Lonely’ on SNL, they came up and said the whole lighting board and set up we had for the performance crashed,” he wrote on Twitter. “So we just had a spotlight and the music, that was the best thing that could’ve happened.” It turns out that the mishap was for the best not just acco rding to Kelly but to viewers at home. Twitter was filled with posts coming in after the show tagging the musician and telling him it was a powerful performance. One in particular said it really hit home. “That was one of the most deep and soul touching performances I’ve ever seen in my life and everything seemed perfect in that way,” the user wrote in the tweet. You was, the guys were. I cried, I’m still crying and it could never been otherwise.” The song, for those unaware, pays tribute to his late father and aunt as he put the song together shortly after his father’s death with Blink 182 member, Travis Barker.

Friends with Pete Davidson, Kelly had aspired to someday appear on the sketch series. His debut seemed to be a major win for him and his fans as the response has been overwhelmingly positive. He even called it his “best night ever” in a tweet after the show. The two were so excited about the moment that as the show was wrapping up, they were seen stumbling off the stage after Davidson lost his footing while lifting Kelly up for a hug. Ahead of the show, Kelly was seen heading into the Rockefeller Center with girlfriend Megan Fox, both of whom were not wearing around a crowd that was masked.

Saturday Night Live will be back on Feb. 6 with Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy hosting and Phoebe Bridgers performing. One week later, Regina King will host with Nathaniel Rateliff as the musical performer. SNL airs at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.