Brandi Carlile Performs for the First Time Ever on ‘Saturday Night Live’

For her first-ever performance on the famed variety show Saturday Night Live, Grammy Award-winning artist Brandi Carlile didn’t disappoint.

On Saturday (October 23), book-ended by her longtime collaborators, Phil and Tim Hanseroth, Carlile dove into her rollicking single “Broken Horses,” wearing a gold suit with a gold microphone.

The track is from her latest album, In These Silent Days, which Carlile released earlier this month and which quickly hit No. 1 on the Billboard top Folk and Rock album charts. Watch the performance below, which includes Carlile’s signature amazing vibrato.

For her second number, Carlile, wearing a glittering tuxedo, performed her single, “Right on Time,” which is also the opening track from her new LP. She opened the song, playing piano, hair coiffed, spotlights behind her. Check out the performance below.

Before the performances, Carlile teased a new announcement, saying, “We have a big announcement coming this Monday!! Any guesses what it might be? If you tune in to @nbcsnl tonight you might get a little bit of a tease…”

She also reminisced a bit on Twitter, posting a picture of herself before performing on Seth Myers’ show years ago next to a photo of herself before last night’s SNL showcase, saying, “How it started vs how it’s going.”

She added, “On a recent trip to NYC when I was lucky enough to perform on @latenightseth I wandered accidentally into the SNL studio looking for the bathroom! I saw the stage and it took my breath away… I don’t know why but I’ve always seen it as a definitive “ok now you’re a rockstar” moment in a persons musical life…I just HAD to grab a pic on the iconic Saturday Night Live stage. ONE DAY we’ll get there man! Dreams come true everyday.”

Carlile has been in the headlines quite a bit lately. Along with her new album, Carlile recently released a new memoir, Broken Horses, in April. She also made a statement that she would like to be the frontperson for the rock band Soundgarden, a group near and dear to her and her Seattle, Washington roots.