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Tonight's Musical Guest, Today
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Nirvana on Saturday Night Live. Warren Zevon on David Letterman. Sometimes, late-night TV musical performances live on forever. Most don’t. But we still want to talk about them.
Each week on “Tonight’s Musical Guest, Today”, long-time friends Alex Beaton and Jon Hillman dive in on the music and cultural memory of a band through the arc of their late-night TV performances. Watch along with Alex and Jon as they examine and react to these musical history moments preserved in the amber of time alongside two celebrity guests and a talk show host.
From Conan to Colbert, Letterman to Leno, or SNL to MadTV, there is no shortage of iconic late-night musical moments. And no end to the ones you don’t remember.
Tonight's Musical Guest, Today
Mary J. Blige with Craig Seymour
This artist melded 70s southern soul with 80s hip hop and earned a royal title for it in the process. Equal parts tough and diva, she took over the R&B world in 1992 and never left. It's MARY J. BLIGE week!
Joining the show is journalist, author, and Mary superfan Craig Seymour! Luckily, Craig is prepared to school the guys on the immeasurable impact of Mary's early albums and the way it shaped modern hip hop/R&B forever. Clip 1 has Jennifer Lopez, Rosie Perez, and Jim Carrey backing up Mary on In Living Color. My Life is a huge album without a huge single, but a full-band version of "You Bring Me Joy" still kills on Conan. Queen Latifah brings together Mary and Lauryn Hill for a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration on TV. And we end with the 2022 Super Bowl, with Mary fitting right in alongside other legends of hip hop (and 50 Cent).
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the peformances disucssed this week!
Reminisce, 11/2/1992 on In Living Color
You Bring Me Joy, 5/19/1995 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Thank You Lord/Not Gon' Cry/Love is All We Need with Nas, 3/7/1997 on The Soul Train Awards
All That I Can Say with Lauryn Hill, 2/4/2000 on The Queen Latifah Show
Family Affair/No More Drama, 5/3/2002 on Later...with Jools Holland
Be Without You/Stay With Me/Runaway Love with Ludacris and Earth, Wind, & Fire, 2/11/2007 on The Grammy Awards
