Prince, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift Among ‘SNL 40’ Guests Jamming At The AfterParty

And people thought Paul McCartney was jamming at Irving Plaza before the show.

Slate.com is reporting that soon after Saturday Night Live‘s 40th Anniversary show wrapped, many of the special guests filed into the Plaza Hotel for what turned out to be the afterparty to end all wrap-up shows. The show started with an empty stage, save for a few instruments. Then, as if out of the blue, Jimmy Fallon of the Tonight Show jumped onstage to serve as backup singer and impromptu emcee. Ackroyd joined the band onstage. Bill Murray came up and played the tambourine.

Then, Sir Paul McCartney and pop princess Taylor Swift leapt onstage. All parties started with the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There.” Then, out of the blue, the jammers jumped into Swift’s “Shake It Off.” McCartney soon left the stage, but hung arould for quite a while.

The whole afterparty then kicked it up a notch when Prince came to the stage as stars of music, television and film continuously came and left. Prince then led the participants in his “Let’s Go Crazy.” At this time, onstage were Chris Rock, Martin Short, Murray, and the group HAIM participating. Cuba Gooding, Jr. jumped onstage to join the fun. McCartney was soon working the room at this time.

The Huffington Post reported that after Prince, Miley Cyrus, who did a version of Paul Simon’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” for the anniversary special, joined Ariana Grande and sang backup for Blondie’s Debbie Harry. Grande later did a version of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” SNL alum Maya Rudolph sang backup for Prince, however she was introduced as Beyonce. The real Beyonce did make an appearance, along with Jay Z, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Justin Timberlake at the star-studded afterparty.

Epic afterparties and Saturday Night Live are nothing new. During the show’s earlier days, John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd would seize control of a small blues club, more like a dive, called the Blues Bar. According to original cast member Laraine Newman, you would find Belushi and Ackroyd jamming with the likes of Keith Richards and James Taylor.

While many would admit that the afterparties have tamed down a bit, especially after Horatio Sans left the show (some of his afterparties are said to be past epic), this afterparty held its own, continuing until at least 4 AM. Perhaps the most intriguing afterparty was the after the 25th SNL Anniversary show, when Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith were joined by David Letterman keyboardist and sidekick Paul Schaffer and iconic actor Gary Busey.

[Image courtesy of Ultimate Classic Rock]