Fred Armisen has not announced whether this week's "Saturday Night Live" season finale will indeed be his last episode as rumored, but a sketch during that show was all but a clear farewell from the longtime cast member.
Appearing as Ian Rubbish, his English punk rock character introduced earlier this season, Armisen sang a song with the repeated chorus "It's been all right / It's been a lovely night with you" while on the British music show "Top of the Pops."
During the performance, Armisen was joined by several musical legends, reflecting his own background as a musician: His "Portlandia" collaborator and Wild Flag and Sleater-Kinney leader Carrie Brownstein, Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., and musical powerhouse couple Aimee Mann and Michael Penn.
The band supporting him included Bill Hader, who confirmed he is leaving after this season, and Jason Sudeikis, who has not confirmed that he is leaving but has been strongly rumored to do so.
20 Years Of Free Journalism
Your Support Fuels Our Mission
Your Support Fuels Our Mission
For two decades, HuffPost has brought you the exclusives, scoops and hot takes on the news all your friends are talking about. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 — we can't do this without you.
We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
20 Years Of Free Journalism
For two decades, HuffPost has brought you the exclusives, scoops and hot takes on the news all your friends are talking about. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 — we can't do this without you.
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
His guitar strap had inscribed the words "TY LM, I ❤ U," which Dave Itzkoff of The New York Times guessed was a special thanks to "SNL" showrunner Lorne Michaels.
The sketch was the last of the night, emphasizing the likelihood that Armisen was indeed saying goodbye to "SNL" after his 11 year run on the show. During that time, he played several breakout characters, as well as President Obama.
