American songwriting legend Paul Simon is in Saturday Night Live's famous Five-Timers Club, but the weirdest thing about his record is that he hasn't actually hosted five episodes of the show. The popular, late-night sketch comedy series makes a big deal over who hosts and celebrates hosting achievements. And the blue-black silk jacket with gold embroidery is quite coveted among the actors, singers, comedians, and other entertainment legends who have hosted over Saturday Night Live's over 40-year history.
The rules for the Five-Timers Club appear to be simple: anyone who hosts Saturday Night Live at least five times gets the jacket. By those rules, there are currently 23 people in the club, including Tom Hanks, Danny DeVito, and Scarlett Johansson. But those rules seem to have been fudged a bit for Paul Simon, writer and singer of folk-rock hit "Sound of Silence." He's in the club despite having only hosted four times.
In total, Paul Simon has appeared on SNL 14 times. The times he's hosted were in 1975, 1976, 1986, and 1987. The singer, one-half of the band Simon & Garfunkel, was co-musical guest each time he's hosted along with four additional times. He's been SNL's sole musical guest five other times. Simon holds that fifth "host" credit from helping out with Saturday Night Live's 100th episode in 1980–an episode that had no host and no monologue. Instead, Simon performed three songs, including "Cathy's Clown" and "Sunny Skies" with James Taylor.
Who Holds The SNL Hosting Record
Having just a club for five timers might make it seem like many of Saturday Night Live's hosts tap out after that achievement. But quite a few of them go above and beyond. Danny DeVito, Drew Barrymore, and Sting have all hosted six times. Tom Hanks and Buck Henry have both hosted 10 shows. Comedian and actor Steve Martin is runner-up with 15 turns as host. But multi-award-winning actor Alec Baldwin has hosted SNL the most, clocking in at 17 turns front and center.
While other entertainers may have hosted far more than Paul Simon, the songwriter and SNL go way back. Simon became good friends with SNL producer Lorne Michaels before the show began, and Michaels produced the 1977 Paul Simon Special as well as a Simon & Garfunkel concert a few years later. In Robert Hilburn's book about his life, Simon said (via Vulture), "Lorne allowed me to be comedic." In fact, Paul Simon offered to host the very first episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975, but Michaels wanted him to wait because he thought Simon could "make the ratings and the word-of-mouth go up." SNL's been around ever since, so that strategy appears to have worked out.