Post Malone Joined Nirvana at ‘SNL’ 50th Ann. Concert, Fans React

This past Friday (Feb. 14), Saturday Night Live  celebrated its 50th anniversary with the aptly titled SNL50: The Homecoming Concert. Easily one of the most electrifying moments came when Post Malone joining the surviving members of Nirvana for a special rendition of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and expectedly, fans had mixed reactions.

The Performance Itself

The three-and-a-half-hour show (which is now available to stream on Peacock) took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It promised to “bring together legendary Saturday Night Live hall-of-famers, iconic guests and surprise musical performances,” and Post Malone’s collaboration with the iconic grunge group surely helped fulfill that promise.

They were introduced by Adam Sandler (who was a Saturday Night Live cast member from 1990 to 1995), who said [via Entertainment Weekly]:

These next guys played while my cast was there, and it was an explosive moment for all of us. It changed it all. Three guys rockin’ out in a way no one had ever seen before, led by a young badass who we will never forget. But the music will live on forever. Ladies and gentlemen: Post Nirvana!

Amidst the crowd’s deafening applause, Post Malone, drummer Dave Grohl, bassist Krist Novoselic and Foo Fighters’ guitarist Pat Smear (who was Nirvana’s touring guitarist in ’93 and ‘94) took the stage.

They immediately launched into a fairly faithful version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” with Malone doing some particularly gruff singing as he played guitar. He even nailed late frontman Kurt Cobain’s midway solo, and complemented by hyperactive flashing lights and the band’s smiles, it was clearly an exhilarating and fulfilling experience for all involved.

Afterward, Malone thanked the crowd before receiving a huge hug from Grohl, too.

You can watch their full performance below.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time the surviving members of Nirvana reunited in 2025, as Grohl, Novoselic and Smear played FireAid last month. They were joined by several different singers as well, including St. Vincent for “Bleed”; Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon for “School”; Joan Jett for “Territorial Pissings”; and most endearingly, Grohl’s daughter – Violet – for “All Apologies.”

You can check out that entire performance here.

READ MORE: ‘Saturday Night Live’ Pair Portray Fake Metal Band Ahead of 50th Anniversary Celebration

How Fans Have Reacted to the Performance

Malone has been very vocal about his love for Nirvana for many years, and he’s even covered numerous Nirvana tracks in the past. Thus, him stepping into Cobain’s shoes this past Friday night wasn’t too shocking (although, as Consequence notes, it did signify the band’s “first major televised or streaming performance with a male singer” since Cobain passed away and Nirvana disbanded).

Understandably, viewers and fans of Malone and/or Nirvana have shared their reactions via social media.

Naturally, many people loved what happened, such as two X users who, respectively, wrote: “This literally brought tears to my eyes” and “It was good brought me a lot of joy, of course he’s not Kurt I still miss him.” One person even made a suggestion for the future: “Nirvana should tour. ‘Nirvana and friends’ and just get artists to cover different songs. No one will ever replace Kurt, but i think the fans would enjoy a world tour to see 75% or the original band.”

Elsewhere, though, some people were less positive on what they saw. For instance, another X user wrote: “Bad. Objectively bad.” Another person went into more detail about their dislike: “I am gonna be that guy here and I hate it but I can’t stand Post Malone Nirvana. I think Kurt would have hated that shit. But his band probably knows him juuuusstt a little bit better than me who has never spoken to him. Still hate it.”

Similarly, someone on Instagram proclaimed: “Really? This is embarrassing. Let the legacy rest. Weak attempts at firing up the old songs are really tired at this point. No Kurt, no Nirvana. Period. Stop it.”

You can see those reactions – and more – below.

More About SNL50: The Homecoming Concert

In addition to Post Malone and Nirvana covering “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the Jimmy Fallon-hosted SNL50: The Homecoming Concert was full of other top-notch music moments.

Specifically, and per TVLine, The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone) were joined by Bad Bunny, T-Pain, Lady Gaga, Eddie Vedder and Chris Parnell for a unique medley.  There was also Jack White doing The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”; Arcade Fire, St. Vincent, David Byrne and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band doing David Bowie’s “Heroes”; and Jelly Roll doing Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”

Post Malone + Nirvana Play “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at SNL 50th Anniversary Concert