On This Day in Pop Music History ...

Posted on Oct 11th 2011 12:00PM by Sarah Chazan

Richard E. Aaron | Redferns

Today may be a Tuesday, but back on this date in 1975, it was a Saturday, and a pretty historic Saturday at that. At exactly 11:30 PM/EST, the very first episode of 'Saturday Night' (which was later changed to 'Saturday Night Live') began taping. During that first episode, hosted by George Carlin, the show had not one, but two, special musical guests -- "Nothing From Nothing" singer Billy Preston and Grammy winner for best pop vocalist, Janis Ian, who sang 'At Seventeen." The first season of 'SNL' showcased a venerable "who's who" of '70s pop icons, with guests such as Simon & Garfunkel, ABBA and Carly Simon. Fast forward to 2011 and the show is still bringing in the crème de la crème of the Billboard charts. Don't forget to tune in this weekend to see 'Headlines' singer Drake take the stage in 30 Rock's studio 8-H.

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