On This Day, Oct. 20. 1979: Bob Dylan is the musical guest on ‘Saturday Night Live’

On This Day, Oct. 20, 1979…

Bob Dylan made his first and only appearance as musical guest on Saturday Night Live.

The rocker treated the audience to three songs from Slow Train Coming, his 19th studio album, and his first since converting to Christianity. He performed the live debuts of “Gotta Serve Somebody,” “I Believe in You” and “When You Gonna Wake Up?”

While Dylan never performed on the show again, Timothée Chalamet, who played Dylan in the movie A Complete Unknown, performed Dylan tunes on the Jan. 25, 2025, episode where he was host and musical guest. He performed a medley of “Outlaw Blues” and “Three Angels” with James Blake, as well as “Tomorrow Is a Long Time.”