Brandi Carlile performed ‘Returning To Myself’ tracks ‘Church & State’ and ‘Human’ on Saturday Night Live – check out her performance below.
Carlile has performed on the show multiple times before, including in April earlier this year, where she and Elton John played songs from their album ‘Who Believes In Angels’. Last night (November 1), her musical guest spot saw her pull from her eighth record, ‘Returning To Myself’.
Released last week (October 24), it marks Carlile’s first solo album since 2021’s ‘In These Silent Days’, following a series of high-profile collaborations with artists like John and Joni Mitchell.
The singer-songwriter first took on rock-driven ‘Church & State’, which sees her take aim at failing empires over a grungey beat, and then pare things down with the soulful ‘Human’ – you can check out both performances below.
Shortly after John and Carlile brought their new tracks, ‘Little Richard’s Bible’ and ‘Who Believes In Angels’, to SNL earlier this year, the pair launched a campaign to try to offset the Trump administration’s cuts to HIV/AIDS funding.
Speaking at the time about the joint venture between the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Carlile’s Looking Out Foundation, Carlile has said: “It was a lifelong dream come true for me to come together with my hero and friend Elton John to make our album ‘Who Believes in Angels?’, and now, we’re excited to announce that our foundations are also partnering to make our music mean even more.”
“Elton’s activism and work with the Elton John AIDS Foundation was what led me to Elton before I even heard a note of his music. It’s an incredible honor to launch this partnership and raise funds for the life-saving work of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Rocket Response Fund at a time when support is needed the most.”
After his inauguration in January, Trump passed an executive order slashing the funding for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has resulted in major setbacks for many HIV/AIDS programs that rely on USAID funding.
The Elton John AIDS Foundation worked closely with USAID to co-fund HIV prevention and treatment programs around the world. In response to the cuts, the Foundation launched the Rocket Fund and Rocket Response Fund in an attempt to fill the gaps left by Trump’s actions.
John launched the foundation in 1992 and it is reported to have raised over $500million over the last three decades.
