--- description: Fred Armisen paid tribute to David Bowie on "Saturday Night Live," saying it was a “life-changing experience” to have watched him perform title: Watch Saturday Night Live's Touching Tribute to David Bowie image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch _Saturday Night Live's_ Touching Tribute to David Bowie  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 17, 2016 2:33 PM CUT  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 17, 2016 2:33 PM CUT Actor Fred Armisen returned to _Saturday Night Live_ to [pay tribute to David Bowie](http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/tv/fred-armisen-pays-tribute-david-bowie-saturday-night-live-n498131 "undefined"), saying it was a “life-changing experience” to have watched the late British musician take the stage on the show in 1979. Armisen, who left the live TV show in 2013, recalled how he used to watch [Bowie](http://time.com/4183603/david-bowie-1970s/ "undefined") perform on _SNL_ when he was younger. “When I was in high school and living in Long Island, I stayed up to see David Bowie play on ‘Saturday Night Live,'” Armisen said. “Watching him was for me a life-changing experience.” “David Bowie transformed whatever space he was in, whatever medium he was using and, that night for me, he transformed live television,” he added. The comedian then introduced a clip of Bowie’s first SNL performance of “The Man Who Sold The World” in 1979\. The 69-year-old music legend [died last Sunday](http://time.com/4174815/david-bowie-death-cancer/ "undefined") after an 18-month battle with cancer. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4183721/snl-david-bowie-saturday-night-live/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4183721/snl-david-bowie-saturday-night-live/"},"headline":"Watch Saturday Night Live's Touching Tribute to David Bowie","datePublished":"2016-01-17T14:33:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:06:14.466Z","description":"“David Bowie transformed whatever space he was in”","url":"https://time.com/4183721/snl-david-bowie-saturday-night-live/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4183721/snl-david-bowie-saturday-night-live/","name":"Watch Saturday Night Live's Touching Tribute to David Bowie"}}]}] ```