Strokes Perform on Saturday Night Live

The band played two songs from its ninth-track album Reality Awaits as it prepares for an international tour.

Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Alternative

The Strokes performed "Lonely in the Future" and "Going Shopping" on Saturday Night Live, marking their fifth musical guest appearance on the show. Walton Goggins joined the second performance on bongo drums.

Why it matters

The appearance promotes Reality Awaits, a nine-track album produced by Rick Rubin, ahead of the band's Reality Awaits World Tour leg through Mexico and South America. It is the band's first SNL appearance since 2020, when it promoted The New Abnormal.

The Strokes' fifth SNL appearance is their first since 2020, when they promoted The New Abnormal, and the album Reality Awaits contains nine tracks. The source does not state how the appearance compares to commercial sales or streaming figures for the album.

The players

The Strokes

The New York rock band formed in 1998 and known for its garage-rock revival sound, which helped define the early-2000s indie rock scene.

Rick Rubin

The record producer co-founded Def Jam Recordings and has produced work for artists across hip-hop, rock and country, and he produced Reality Awaits.

Walton Goggins

The actor known for his roles in The Shield and Justified joined the band on bongo drums during the second performance.

The details

The band performed "Lonely in the Future" first and "Going Shopping" second, with Goggins joining the latter on bongo drums. Reality Awaits was recorded beginning in 2022 in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, with additional sessions at Rubin's Shangri-La and The Mansion studios in southern California.

2020: The band last appeared on Saturday Night Live to promote The New Abnormal.
2022: Recording of Reality Awaits with Rick Rubin began in Costa Rica.
November 7, 2026: The Strokes performed on Saturday Night Live.

Industry Dynamics

The Strokes' return to Saturday Night Live follows the same promotional pattern they used for The New Abnormal in 2020, when a late-night network booking helped launch a new album cycle. The band's fifth musical-guest slot places it among the more frequent alternative rock acts booked by the program over the past two decades.

Fans can see the band on the Reality Awaits World Tour in Mexico and South America starting in a couple of weeks, with additional Australian dates and the Innings Festival in Arizona in February. The source does not list ticket prices or on-sale dates.

The takeaway

The Strokes' return to the SNL stage, where they promoted their previous album in 2020, signals that the band is actively building momentum for Reality Awaits. Readers following the band can track its upcoming tour dates as the album cycle continues.

What happens next

The band's Reality Awaits World Tour continues in Mexico and South America in the coming weeks, followed by Australian dates and the Innings Festival in Arizona in February.