'Empire' Star Taraji P. Henson Will Host 'Saturday Night Live' on April 11

Taraji P. Henson stars as Cookie Lyon on Empire.

Michael Keaton will host SNL for the third time on April 4. Keaton was recently nominated for an Academy Award for his work in Best Picture winner Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), and will next star in the upcoming feature films, Spotlight and Minions.

Multi-platinum, Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen will make her SNL musical guest debut. Jepsen's new single "I Really Like You" is already climbing the charts. Jepsen’s debut album, "Kiss," featured her breakout single “Call Me Maybe,” which hit No. 1 on the iTunes Singles charts in over 47 countries and has sold over 17 million singles worldwide to date.

On April 11, Academy Award nominated actress Taraji P. Henson will make her SNL hosting debut. Henson stars as Cookie on the megahit primetime soap opera, Empire, which just aired its season finale.

Mumford & Sons will perform as SNL musical guest for the second time. Their third studio album, “Wilder Mind,” will be released on May 4, and the band will headline ‘Gentlemen of the Road Stopover’ events in the U.S. and U.K. this summer.

Saturday Night Live is produced in association with Broadway Video. The creator and executive producer is Lorne Michaels.

'Saturday Night Live' Uses Old Soap Photos on 'Forgotten TV Gems' Set

On last weekend's episode of Saturday Night Live on NBC, Keanan Thompson hosted a sketch titled "Forgotten TV Gems" whose set used several photos from classic daytime soap operas. The forgotten gem was a faux classic TV show called "Supportive Women," starring characters played by Cecily Strong and Sarah Silverman. While the photos used had nothing to do with the sketch, it was cool to see the faces of Laura and Luke Spencer (Genie Francis and Anthony Geary, General Hospital), Brooke English and Erica Kane (Julia Barr and Susan Lucci, All My Children), Victor Newman (Eric Braeden, The Young and the Restless), Hope and Bo Brady (Kristian Alfonso and Peter Reckell, Days of our Lives), Margo and Tom Hughes (Margaret Colin and Justin Deas, As the World Turns), Alan Spaulding and Mike Bauer (Christopher Bernau and Don Stewart, Guiding Light), the Capwells from Santa Barbara and more.

Watch the sketch below:

'Saturday Night Live' Announcer Don Pardo Has Died at 96

Don Pardo

Longtime Saturday Night Live announcer Don Pardo died Monday at the age of 96.

Pardo died peacefully at his home in Tucson, Arizona, where he moved after retiring from SNL in 2006, said his daughter, Dona Pardo.

Those introductions and his voice were so distinctive that longtime fans of the late-night sketch comedy series immediately noticed when he missed the opening of the March 2, 2013 episode; it was later reported that he had suffered a broken hip.

Pardo, who began his career at NBC Radio in 1940 and switched to television in the 1950s, worked as an announcer on numerous game shows including The Price is Right and the original Jeopardy! in the mid-1960s.

He was Jeopardy!'s announcer from 1964 until the original version, with host Art Fleming, ended in 1975. A decade later, in 1975, he turned to late night work, becoming the voice over announcer for the hit comedy series Saturday Night Live.