With Lady Gaga serving as both the evening’s host and musical guest, Mother Monster had free rein to wreck creative havoc. For Lady Gaga’s first performance of the evening, she unleased true mayhem with latest album’s track “ Abracadabra .”

Speaking of “Abracadabra,” Lady Gaga may have pulled off the ultimate “Saturday Night Live” magic trick during her two musical numbers in this week’s episode: dancing furiously and singing live. That combination is not for every “SNL” musical guest,

Mayhem arrives on the heels of a successful 2025 for Gaga, which saw her chart-topping collaboration with Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile.” The song spent five weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, marking her second-longest-running No. 1 hit after 2011’s “Born This Way.” She also won a Grammy for best pop duo/group performance alongside Mars.