'SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE' RETURNS WITH A PAIR OF LIVE SHOWS IN MARCH FEATURING DWAYNE JOHNSON AND RAY LAMONTAGNE MARCH 7 AND TRACY MORGAN AND KELLY CLARKSON MARCH 14
NEW YORK – February 27, 2008 – NBC's "Saturday Night Live" returns with back-to-back live shows in March.
Dwayne Johnson returns for his third time hosting March 7, and stars in Disney's "Race to Witch Mountain," which opens Friday, March 13. He also recently wrapped filming the comedy "Tooth Fairy," starring alongside Julie Andrews, Ashley Judd and Billy Crystal. Since his breakout role in the film, "The Mummy Returns" and box office powerhouse "The Scorpion King," Dwayne Johnson has firmly established himself as one of Hollywood's top leading men. Johnson excelled as a high school All-American and star defensive lineman for the University of Miami Hurricanes and led his team to win the National Championship in 1991. Upon graduating from the University of Miami, Johnson followed in the footsteps of his WWE Hall of Fame father, Rocky Johnson, and created his famous character "The Rock," one of the most charismatic and dynamic characters the industry has ever seen. Johnson has numerous film credits under his belt including "Get Smart," "Southland Tales," "Gridiron Gang," "The Rundown," "Walking Tall" and "Be Cool".
Singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne will join Johnson as the show's musical guest debut. His latest release "Gossip in the Grain," debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts during its first week and was the top selling album on iTunes. LaMontagne has won over music critics with a unique voice that Rolling Stone Magazine describes as "full of the warm yearning of a young Van Morrison." His debut release "Trouble" was a top 40 hit in the United Kingdom and the album peaked at number 5 in that country. It sold over 400,000 copies worldwide. LaMontagne's sophomore release "Till the Sun Turns Black" was a top 40 hit in the United States, peaking at #28 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 28,000 copies in its first week of release.
"30 Rock" star and SNL alum Tracy Morgan will host March 14. Morgan plays the wild and unpredictable movie star Tracy Jordan in NBC's two-time Emmy Award-winning comedy, "30 Rock." Morgan will appear in Disney's 2009 animated summer blockbuster "G-Force" and also in David O'Russell's feature film "Nailed," starring alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Biel. As a stand-up comic who headlined across the country, Morgan was first introduced to TV audiences in his role as "Hustleman" on the hit comedy series "Martin." Morgan joined "Saturday Night Live" in 1996, where he appeared for seven seasons and created such memorable characters as "Astronaut Jones" and "Brian Fellows." After leaving "Saturday Night Live," Morgan went on to star in his own comedy series "The Tracy Morgan Show" and as the voice of "Spoonie Luv" on "Crank Yankers." Morgan's feature-film credits include "The Longest Yard," "Little Man," "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," "Head of State," "First Sunday" and "Superhero Movie". The "30 Rock" cast won the 2009 SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Morgan received an individual nomination in both 2008 and 2009 for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Kelly Clarkson, whose fourth album "All I Ever Wanted" is due out on March 10, returns to the SNL stage as musical guest. Clarkson, who has sold over twenty million records worldwide, first appeared on the music scene during the first season of "American Idol" in 2002. Clarkson beat out more than 10,000 people to land the $1 million recording contract as the show's first winner. Her first single, "A Moment Like This" came out in late September of 2002 and sold nearly 250,000 copies in its first week. Her superstardom was secured with "Breakaway" in 2005, which sold over ten million copies, spun off five Top Ten hits, and stayed on the charts for two full years. The platinum-selling follow-up, "My December", arrived in 2007. Clarkson has had nine of her singles becoming Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2008, she joined VH1's list of 10 sexiest women of the new millennium at #8 and also hit #28 on Vh1's Top 30 Hottest Rock Front Women. As of 2008 she is one of the 10 most played artists on adult contemporary radio. Clarkson won over 60 awards and received over 100 nominations. She has won 2 Grammy Awards (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance "Since U Been Gone", Best Pop Vocal Album "Breakaway").
"Saturday Night Live" is from SNL Studios in association with Broadway Video. The creator and executive producer is Lorne Michaels. Steve Higgins and Marci Klein producers. Ken Aymong supervising producer. Seth Meyers is head writer. Don Roy King directs.
