As Saturday Night Live approaches its premiere on the 2024 TV schedule, fans (including myself) can’t wait to see that iconic post with the colored notecards that announce the hosts and musical guests. Plus, this year is historic for the sketch comedy, because it's the 50th season. So, anticipation is high to see who they bring in, and when it comes to musical guests, there’s a pop star Bowen Yang is campaigning for, and I’m right there with him.
If you’ve been paying attention to pop culture for the last six months or so, you likely know which pop star I’m talking about (and no, it’s not Taylor Swift). I’m of course referring to Chappell Roan who has exploded into stardom this year with her hit tracks like “Hot To Go!” and “Good Luck, Babe!” It turns out that Yang has been advocating for her to be the musical guest on SNL, as he told her during a conversation with Interview Magazine:
I didn’t buy tickets to the shows because I was like, ‘Fuck, I’m working at SNL.’ But I was texting the SNL bookers months before being like, 'There’s this girl, Chappell Roan. I think she’d be incredible for the show.’ And then, the night came and I played hooky for the first time, because they were like, ‘Do you want to come with us?’ The next night, my friends were like, ‘We’re going,’ and I was like, ‘Well, I’m going again.’
The comedian was in the midst of talking to Roan about her rise to fame, and he brought up how she played Brooklyn Steel for two nights during a week when Saturday Night Live was in production last year. So, on top of singing her praises to the bookers on the show, he also went to both her concerts in NYC, explaining:
I saw you two nights in a row and I have no regrets. I think you have your heels in everybody, and it’s going to be this reciprocal thing where everyone’s just going to make sure you’re okay. There’s already video essays on YouTube of people being like, ‘Everyone stop being weird about Chappell. Just let her cook.’
Over the last few months, Chappell Roan has gone viral for a myriad of reasons. She’s selling out venues and bringing in ginormous crowds at festivals. She's wearing incredible outfits inspired by drag queens and horror movies (among many other things). Plus, the “Hot To Go!” dance (which you can see in the viral music video below) is everywhere. Also, recently, her comments about fame and attention have been causing quite the debate, which is what Yang was alluding to in his last comment.
To be honest, if Chappell Roan isn’t the musical guest during one of SNL’s first episodes this season, I’ll be surprised. She seems like a perfect fit for the gig, and it feels like she’s perfectly poised to give a performance that would make her one of the most memorable musical guests on Saturday Night Live.
You can stream old episodes of SNL as well as the new ones when they air live with a Peacock subscription.
It also wouldn’t be shocking if she was brought in as a host and musical guest on SNL. Her theatrical stage presence and her sheer skill as a performer feel like they would transfer over to sketch comedy well. Plus, Bowen Yang is clearly a massive fan of her, and I’m positive he and the show’s cast would be very supportive and helpful throughout the week too to make sure she became a non-actor host who nailed it as a host.
Sadly, at the moment, all this is hypothetical as we don’t know much about Saturday Night Live’s 50th season. All we have at the moment is a rough idea of which cast members are returning, the fact that Maya Rudolph will play Kamala Harris again, and the knowledge that the show will premiere on September 28.
However, it seems like a no-brainer to have Chappell Roan as a musical guest this season. SNL has always been on top of booking musical guests and hosts who are both major figures and up-and-comers, and right now, this singer is both. So, it’d be crazy of them not to at least try and get her to Studio 8H.
