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Kanye West Performs Highlights, Ultralight Beam on Saturday Night Live

Kanye West stormed the “Saturday Night Live” stage with performances of “Highlights” and “Ultralight Beam” from his just-released album “The Life of Pablo.”

Both tunes featured backing vocals from R&B veteran El Debarge, gospel star Kirk Franklin, Chance the Rapper, Kelly Price and The-Dream. Both tunes were performed in front of a multimedia backdrop that was a departure for the NBC franchise’s musical performances. “Ultralight Beam” featured a host of additional backup singers.

The “SNL” performance came three days after West partially unveiled his seventh studio album in dramatic fashion with an event at Madison Square Garden in conjunction with the debut of his latest line of Yeezy-branded apparel for Adidas. The event was simulcast in movie theaters around the country and also streamed live via Tidal, the music streaming service run by Jay Z. He later made the full album available Saturday after the “SNL” broadcast.

Melissa McCarthy hosted the Feb. 13 edition of “Saturday Night Live.”

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Martina Birk

Update: 2024-02-12