Saturday Night Live culminated its 50th-anniversary celebrations last weekend with a concert at the fabled Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Friday night followed by a star-studded prime-time three-and-a-half-hour extravaganza on Sunday. It was more than a simple three-day-long celebration of the show and its long-running effect on the cultural zeitgeist, it was a loving testimonial to the show’s creator and current producer Lorne Michaels. Let’s look at the top five live music highlights of this amazing set of tributes and performances, starting off on an unusually somber note from the franchise’s historic run.

1. “Nothing Compares 2 U” By Prince as performed by Miley Cyrus, Brittany Howard, and The Roots

While the often culture-shaking Miley Cyrus has seen her duet rendition of this Prince classic alongside Alabama Shakes co-founder Brittany Howard and The Roots cause a huge online uproar, the songstress is taking the controversy in easy stride. The outcry is less about the song itself and more about its subtext regarding one of the darkest moments in Saturday Night Live‘s long history and its lingering legacy.

The move caused a worldwide backlash that had everyone from then-President George H.W. Bush to the Pope himself condemning the action. The following week incoming host, actor Joe Pesci, himself known for roles that often featured the performer as a murderous member of organized crime, responded by shredding a picture of O’Conner in a sanctioned move during his monologue. Though Michaels often denied the rumor that O’Connor was banned from the show for life, the legend persisted to her tragically early passing.

Sadly, as we all know, news of many similar bad faith actions by the Catholic Church around the world were brought to light and, as such, it has come to be that many feel like the criticism O’Connor faced was wholly unearned. Cyruss, Howard, and Michaels surely knew this performance would look to most as a sort of mea culpa without being a direct apology for the response the late songstress faced for years after her brave action.

Cyrus, to her credit, has deflected any attempts to get a rise from her on the subject. The once far more volatile Cyrus has demurred from entering the online fury guns blazing as she would have in the past simply saying she played a Prince song and nothing more. Actions speak louder than words and, like ripping up a picture on live TV, singing a song can say much more than a thousand words.

Miley Cyrus, Brittany Howard, The Roots — “Nothing Compares 2 U” (Prince) — SNL50

2. “Lonely Island Medley” as performed by Andy Samberg, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, Eddie Vedder, T-Pain

There’s a solid case to be made that The Lonely Island and its digital shorts segments saved, or at least ensured the survival of Saturday Night Live, as it transitioned to the modern internet era. The trio of SNL cast performer and partner Andy Samberg alongside Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer might have started in Berkeley, CA back in 2001 with a string of viral comedy clips, but they ended up having a direction-altering effect on one of New York’s landmark institutions.

The comedic brothers-in-arms utilized consumer video gear to make inspired mini music videos and film clips, but when they came on as writers and performers for SNL they were able to reach their full potential, thanks in no small part to NBC‘s virtually infinite pockets. Whether the Lonely Island was working with the ever-changing rotation of hosts such as Natalie Portman and Ryan Reynolds, musical guests Dave Grohl and Justin Timberlake, or Lady Gaga and T-Pain who returned for Friday’s spectacle, the crowd in the studio and at home hoped each week to see a new video from this hit-making trio whose musical parodies reached numbers that would make most any band’s career.

Though many of the original artists who contributed to the original songs weren’t on hand at Radio City (with Andy Samberg specifically calling out Timberlake), Lady Gaga was more than happy to help along with Bad Bunny and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. The wild overlapping culmination of the medley saw everyone from the various sections build to a slam-bang conclusion that had Radio City in a laughing, astounded heap.

The Lonely Island — Medley — SNL50: The Homecoming Concert

3. “New York 50th Musical” as performed by the SNL cast

Former Saturday Night Live writer turned star stand-up comedian John Mulaney and former head writer and current Weekend Update co-host Colin Jost delivered another star-studded installment of their beloved musical tribute sketches. The premise is always the same, Pete Davidson plays a laid-back shopper and, along with a more wary friend, interacts with a representative or staff member of various New York City institutional commerce pastiches.

In locations like late-night low-rent diners with lobster inexplicably offered on their menu to run-down corner bodegas and dodgy airports, Davidson’s consumer naively decides on the worst possible idea or item to purchase. From there narrator John Mulaney uses a variety of Broadway musical numbers satirically reworked into comedy masterpieces to warn Davidson of the likely outcomes of his risky moves.

In this special Sunday night adventure, Davidson’s purchase from a 1975-era food cart named “Hot Dogs & Heroin” launches an era-by-era absurdist parody of musical numbers starting with Maya Rudolph and film star Adam Driver in costume as a giant frankfurter and loaded syringe respectively. Moving through the phases of New York City to song parodies from The Lion King, Les Miserables, Hamilton, and West Side Story with cameos from Paul Shaffer, Nathan Lane, Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and many, many more eventually packing the stage in an over-the-top crescendo.

It’s an inspired tribute to Saturday Night Live‘s fabled birthplace’s tangled and troubled past and the hit musicals of Broadway. New York might just be the greatest city in the world but as this on-point musical tribute cheekily points out, it ain’t the easiest place to live.

“New York 50th Musical” — SNL50

4. “50 Years” by Adam Sandler

Adam Sandler‘s tribute to the fallen cast and crew members was one of the most wistful, sad, and poignant moments of the Sunday evening live celebratory finale. In the five decades it’s been on the air Saturday Night Live has brought dozens of comedic stars onto the scene, but, tragically some of those bright lights are now gone from the night sky.

Original cast members like John Belushi and Gilda Radner and early hosts like George Carlin and Richard Pryor to sadly more contemporary losses like Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, and Sandler’s own best friend Chris Farley were among those Adam eulogized with his acoustic guitar. While the topic is melancholy, the usually exuberant Sandler utilized his dramatic range and loving nature to tug at the heartstrings without getting overly maudlin. From his sophomoric debut decades past, one wouldn’t have imagined Sandler so deftly weaving a path through such heavy, emotionally charged territory but time has a way of wisening even the most dedicated of fools.

Adam Sandler — “50 Years” — SNL50

5. “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End” by The Beatles performed by Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney has been such a frequent musical guest with so many notable scenes and performances over the course of Saturday Night Live that it was inevitable the star would be on hand to help honor the 50th anniversary. Choosing to go with his regular whip-crack sharp band, McCartney trodded some of his iconic catalog of classics from The Beatles, giving the crowd a sing-a-long mix of tunes from Abbey Road that had the entire studio up on their feet and dancing.

Paul McCartney — “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End”— SNL50

There’s been a lot of speculation about Lorne Michaels’ future after this milestone season, and the series creator still hasn’t made a definitive statement about his future with the show he created 50 years ago. If this year does prove to be his last making TV magic, Michaels will have had one of the wildest rides in show business for 50 years and counting. Michaels has anointed comedy legends and helped shape the entire nation’s nature from catchphrases to the body politic and beyond. It’s impossible to say what Michaels’ lasting legacy will be at this juncture in history when he is still adding to it weekly. Judging from the effect so far one thing is for certain, when Lorne finally does depart he’ll leave the world laughing and begging for more.