Conan O’Brien on Partying with Prince, Jon Bon Jovi as an ‘SNL’ Writer

Before Conan O'Brien became the giant comedic force we know today, one of his earliest major gigs was as a writer on Saturday Night Live. Because of that gig, O'Brien was able to meet and party with some of the biggest names in music and entertainment.

O'Brien touched on this during a recent appearance on the podcast Back to the Best, which covers the best of pop culture in the '90s and 2000s. When asked about the first big A-list party he attended, O'Brien mentioned the SNL 15th anniversary party. One of the biggest guests at that party was Prince, who was fresh off the release of the Batman soundtrack. O'Brien described Prince as "the most perfect-looking person you'd ever see in your life."

O'Brien also recalled another SNL party in the late '80s that featured another major guest: Jon Bon Jovi. He recalled, "Jon Bon Jovi came to an 'SNL' party when he was the biggest thing in the world. It was, like, 1988, and he came, and I remember he's wearing, like, a leather buckskin cool outfit. Just so cool."

O'Brien was a writer for SNL from 1985 to 1991. From there, he went on to join the writing staff for The Simpsons from 1991 to 1993. Of course, in 1993, he took over NBC's Late Night following the exit of David Letterman. Appropriately, it was Letterman who presented O'Brien with 2025's Mark Twain Prize.