Katreese Barnes, musical director/keyboards (2000-present) Ninth season with SNL Band

Katreese Barnes took on the daunting task of taking Cheryl Hardwick's piano/organ chair in 2000, but has grown into her role as co-keyboardist (and most recently, co-musical director) with the SNL Band's legendary pianist, Leon Pendarvis.

Katreese's biggest SNL moment came when she won the 2007 Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for co-writing "D... in a Box" for Justin Timberlake, creating one of SNL's more outrageous (and most YouTubed) moments.

Katreese grew up in North Carolina, playing and writing songs with her brother, and eventually landing in the backup bands for Roberta Flack and Chaka Khan. She had some record deals, one with Epic, but when her last record deal fizzled in 1999, SNL came calling for a keyboardist to replace the retired Cheryl Hardwick. The timing couldn't have been better for Katreese. (Photo: Tamara Beckwith, New York Post)

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