The Strokes use SNL slot to push 2 Reality Awaits tracks

The Strokes performed two songs from Reality Awaits on Saturday Night Live on Nov. 7, Billboard reported in a Nov. 8 article.

The appearance extended promotion for the New York band’s seventh studio album, which arrived in July and debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 and No. 5 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums.

The Druski-hosted episode featured “Lonely in the Future” and “Going Shopping.” Billboard said actor Walton Goggins joined the second performance on bongos, dressed in an all-black suit and sunglasses.

Goggins’ cameo linked the live broadcast to the “Going Shopping” music video, where he had the same role. After the first performance, the band released the official video for “Lonely in the Future,” made with handcrafted puppets in collaboration with the team behind the British satirical series Spitting Image.

Reality Awaits is a nine-track album recorded in Costa Rica with producer Rick Rubin, who also worked with The Strokes on their 2020 album The New Abnormal.

Billboard described Saturday’s booking as The Strokes’ fourth appearance as Saturday Night Live musical guests, following slots in January 2002, 2006 and 2011. Atlas360 previously reported the booking as the band’s fifth appearance, a discrepancy not resolved in the article.

Saturday Night Live is scheduled to return Nov. 14 with John Mulaney as host and Phoebe Bridgers as musical guest.

Source: entertainment article, Billboard, Nov. 8, 2026