Congratulations to Bowen Yang — and to everyone else who has been clamoring for Chappell Roan to make her debut as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live.
The variety show’s official account posted a signature pushpin image of the season 50 lineup on Wednesday afternoon, revealing that the breakout lesbian pop star will make her SNL debut November 2 alongside returning host John Mulaney. And as if the lineup could get any more sapphic, Roan will be immediately preceded by Billie Eilish making her fourth (!) appearance on the show on October 19.
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The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess singer has had an astonishing rise to stardom this year. Although her debut album was released last September, Roan’s music began charting after her April 2024 Coachella performance, leading to record crowds at music festivals, a Tonight Show appearance, a Rolling Stone cover, and an iconic performance in full chainmail at MTV’s Video Music Awards.
More recently, she has opened up about the harassment and online abuse that have accompanied her newfound celebrity status, calling out “predatory” behavior from fans and being honest about the challenges of dealing with fame. That admission has been met with an outpouring of support from fellow pop performers, including Eilish, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and more.
An SNL appearance marks another milestone in Roan’s sudden success — and one that many wish could have come in time for last season. In a recent conversation with Interview magazine, cast staple Yang said that he had texted the SNL bookers, saying, “There’s this girl, Chappell Roan. I think she’d be incredible for the show.” (Yang also shared that he “play[ed] hooky from work” to go see her perform.)
While November 2 may seem like a long wait, that gives us plenty of time to wonder whether she’ll play one of her current hits, like “Good Luck, Babe!” or whether she’ll use the apropos New York setting to whip out “Subway.” At the very least, we’ll probably get a very welcome iteration on a longstanding meme format: “I hope she plays ‘Hot to Go!’” followed by, of course, “This is SNL.”
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