Formation and early years (1990–2004) ,
California. The Lonely Island first formed at Willard Junior High School in
Berkeley, California, in the early 1990s. Schaffer and Taccone first met in seventh grade Spanish class, and the group later expanded to include Samberg, a year behind the two. The trio belonged to a large group of friends interested in skateboarding. They named themselves The Lonely Island, after the "modest, low-rent" L.A. apartment that they shared with roommates Chester Tam and
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin. Their videos were produced via borrowed equipment and edited on a single
PowerMac, In December 2001, they produced a pilot for a television series titled
The Lonely Island; the first episode involved the three becoming addicted to teeth whitening products. Unable to secure full-time positions, the trio took temporary jobs; one season, they worked at
Fox Television over the holidays, tying ribbons around metal snowflakes the studio gifted to their employees.
Mainstream success at Saturday Night Live (2005–08) Early sketches and "Lazy Sunday" Following their success with ''The 'Bu'', The Lonely Island secured a pitch meeting with Fox's then-president
Gail Berman. There, the trio showed executives the video for "Just 2 Guyz", which received a positive reception. Fallon's praise, in addition to word of mouth spreading to others at
SNL, among them
Tina Fey and creator
Lorne Michaels, led the trio to audition for the series in mid-2005. Their second video was turned down as it was deemed too similar. In the moments preceding the show's live performance and broadcast, the team learned from Michaels that "Lazy Sunday" would be shown on that night's show. "Lazy Sunday" aired on December 17, 2005, when the comedy troupe were little known to even
Saturday Night Lives most devout fans. By the following morning, it had spread online nationwide. Schaffer and Taccone also were contacted by friends who heard the track played on radio stations and in bars. "Lazy Sunday" inspired a line of T-shirts, released during the initial boom of popularity in the weeks after its release. the short was initially available after its broadcast through the
iTunes Music Store, made free for subscribers. The original upload was removed by NBC for copyright violation in February 2006, and the short wasn't reuploaded to YouTube until August 2013. Following his stardom on
SNL, Samberg became a celebrity, being covered in tabloid publications. In the summer of 2006, The Lonely Island filmed their first feature film,
Hot Rod, in
Vancouver. The role was originally conceived for
Will Ferrell before Samberg signed on. Subsequently, the trio re-wrote much of the original script to match their standards: "Which is another way of saying, just dumb it down," said Schaffer. The film was released in August 2007 to mediocre reviews and a tepid box office reaction. The Lonely Island's next major viral success came in December 2006, when they collaborated with singer
Justin Timberlake for the Digital Short "
Dick in a Box", starring Samberg and Timberlake as R&B-crooning balladeers who package their genitals as Christmas gifts. Taccone came up with the "dick in a box" premise after Michaels asked Samberg to write a sketch showcasing Timberlake's voice. Timberlake recalled that the musicians were "laughing hysterically" during its production, and that the "delirium of no sleep" contributed to the humor of the song. The online version of the short—which, like its predecessors, attracted millions of views on
YouTube—was uncensored, creating controversy. "In the process
Saturday Night Live appears to have become the first scripted comedy on a broadcast network to use the Web to make an end-run around the prying eyes of both its internal censors and those of the
Federal Communications Commission, whose jurisdiction over “Saturday Night Live” effectively ends at the Web frontier," said Jaques Steinberg of
The New York Times. Timberlake also made a guest appearance in the group's subsequent track "
Jizz in My Pants". Timberlake then returned to SNL in 2009 to make the digital short “Motherlover” with The Lonely Island, a sequel to "Dick in a Box", featuring the same characters.
Music, television, and film careers (2009–11) Incredibad and continued viral success In the summer of 2008, the trio rented a home in Los Angeles and began recording their debut studio album,
Incredibad (2009), over the course of three months.
Incredibad was released a dual CD/DVD set in February 2009. Their next significant viral success was "
I'm on a Boat", a collaboration with
T-Pain that spoofs hip-hop excess. The trio had met T-Pain when he guested on
SNL a year prior, who confirmed he was a fan of
Hot Rod. "I'm on a Boat" was a bigger success than its predecessor, going
double-platinum and earning a nomination for
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the
52nd Grammy Awards. Although not an official single, based on digital downloads, "
Like a Boss" was certified
gold. On April 1, 2011, the Lonely Island appeared as guests on
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, where they premiered the lead track, "
We're Back!", as well as the new album cover. On April 19, 2011, the group released "
Motherlover" featuring
Justin Timberlake as the fourth single from the album. This song was last featured on season 34 of
SNL. The group held a fundraiser to promote their new album on April 16, 2011 at
Amoeba Music in Berkeley, California. There were only 250 tickets available, and the only way to obtain a ticket was to preorder their album. They hosted a Q&A session and an autograph session. Shortly after, "Motherlover" was released on
iTunes. On May 7, they released a new track, "
Jack Sparrow", featuring
Michael Bolton singing passionately about the
Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
Turtleneck & Chain was both Emmy nominated for
Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and Grammy nominated for
Best Comedy Album. Shortly after the release of the album, the group premiered a new song, "
3-Way (The Golden Rule)", featuring Timberlake and
Lady Gaga, on the season finale of
SNL. Rather than rent the same home in Encino, they cut the album in nearby Los Feliz at a home equipped with a professional recording unit. For the album's production, they solidified song premises long before receiving beats for each song, which came from both high-level and low-level producers. The album's lead single, "
YOLO" featuring
Adam Levine and
Kendrick Lamar, with a prominent sample from the song
Whirring from the Welsh band
The Joy Formidable, premiered on
SNL in January 2013. The song is an anthem parodying the phrase "you only live once" and a culture lacking caution and responsibility. The group wanted to mount a full-scale tour behind the album, but other opportunities (Samberg's comedy series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine was just ordered as a series by Fox at the time) made it difficult. and were listed on
New Media Rockstars Top 100 YouTube Channels, ranked at number 70. Later that year, Universal Studios acquired a pitch from the trio for a second feature film, which was co-produced by
Judd Apatow. Schaffer and Taccone co-directed the film,
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, which was released on June 3, 2016 along with a corresponding soundtrack album. The trio promoted the film by airing a Digital Short for the track "Finest Girl (Bin Laden Song)" during the
Saturday Night Live season 41 finale. The day after
the 90th Academy Awards the group premiered a song on YouTube titled "Why Not Me" which they claimed was commissioned by the academy although not used because it was "financially and logistically impossible." The song features characters from various movies who did not get nominated sing about being snubbed by the Academy. It was not immediately clear if the group was actually asked by the Academy to perform or if this was part of the joke. In 2020, the group produced the romantic comedy film
Palm Springs starring Samberg and
Cristin Milioti. The film was released at
Sundance Film Festival in January 2020 and released widely via
Hulu on July 10, 2020. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances and concept.
Netflix specials and television production work In 2017, the group released ''
Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special, a Netflix special starring Michael Bolton and featuring numerous cameos from celebrities and SNL cast members. On May 23, 2019, the group released a Netflix special, advertised as a "visual poem" to go with a new album, The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience,'' itself framed as a rap album written and performed by baseball players
Jose Canseco and
Mark McGwire in the 1980s, while the pair were known as the
Bash Brothers while playing for the
Oakland Athletics. As part of the team's television production contract, several programs produced by The Lonely Island began airing.
Party Over Here, a sketch comedy series, aired on Fox in 2016 but was cancelled after one season. The next year, ''
I'm Sorry, a sitcom starring Andrea Savage and produced by the Lonely Island along with Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, began airing on TruTV In 2018, the group created and produced Alone Together, which had 2 seasons on Freeform. The next year saw the release of PEN15'', a comedy web television series focusing on middle school, and airing on
Hulu.
Return to digital projects In April 2024, the group returned to their YouTube channel to release a weekly podcast co-hosted with Seth Meyers, head writer during their time at Saturday Night Live, called
The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast. The podcast follows the members revisiting their Digital Shorts, reminiscing on their time working at SNL together. The group refers to the fans of this podcast as the “Quaid Army.” This is in reference to the 1990 science fiction film
Total Recall and a digital short the group made referencing this movie in their time at SNL. In October 2024, The Lonely Island revived their Digital Short series for
SNL's 50th season, with a new music video entitled "Sushi Glory Hole", featuring Samberg and Schaffer. This marked the group's first music project since 2019. The group would release another Digital Short music video titled "
Here I Go", featuring the host of the episode,
Charli XCX. In February 2025, the group performed a medley of their greatest hits at the
SNL50: The Homecoming Concert, featuring
Lady Gaga,
Chris Parnell,
Bad Bunny,
T-Pain, and
Eddie Vedder. As a part of the
Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special, the group released the Digital Short "Anxiety". == Style ==