‘SNL’ Has Eyes on Chappell Roan for Musical Guest Spot, Bowen Yang Says

Yang said he attended the ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ singer’s Brooklyn Steel nights concerts with the ‘SNL’ talent team.

Following her performances of “Red Wine Supernova” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and “Good Luck, Babe!” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Chappell Roan may be set to add another late night show performance to her credits. The rising queer pop singer, 26, is reportedly being eyed as a musical guest for Saturday Night, according to Bowen Yang.

Yang, part of the NBC sketch comedy series’ writing staff, revealed during a recent episode of his Las Culturistas podcast with Matt Rogers that he attended a pair of the “Pink Pony Club” singer’s concerts as part of her ongoing The Midwest Princess Tour, in support of her debut studio album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Yang didn’t go alone, though. He brought the show’s talent team in an effort persuade them that Roan could make a perfect musical guest for SNL.

“I went to both of her Brooklyn Steel nights,” Yang said, referring to Roan’s October 2023 shows at the Brooklyn venue. “I went to see her two nights in a row, the first night was the only time I’ve skipped a Tuesday writing night … because the talent people at SNL were like, ‘We’re gonna see Chappell, do you wanna come with?'”

Although Yang said he wasn’t “pressing my thumb on the scale” on the topic, he shared that he “did wanna be there to talk to them about, like, ‘What would booking her be like?'” The actor and comedian said, “it was just me being like, ‘You guys should experience her.’ So I went with them, and during ‘Casual,’ this person on the talent team – Grace Shaker, love you – turns to me and goes, ‘She’s special.'”

While Roan hasn’t yet been announced as an SNL musical guest, it’s not that far-fetched of an idea. The signer’s star has been on the rise in recent months after she supported Olivia Rodrigo on a leg of her Guts World Tour and following her viral 2024 Coachella performance. Roan has gone on to perform at sold-out shows and festivals, the singer being such a massive draw that festival organizers decided to move her Bonnaroo set from a medium-size “tent” stage to the Which Stage, the second largest stage at the festival. She also reportedly pulled in bigger crowds than headliners like Ed Sheeran at Boston Calling.

In addition to her single “Good Luck, Babe!,” Roan is drawing plenty of attention for her 2023 debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. The album contains hits like “HOT TO GO,” “Red Wine Supernova,” “Casual,” and “Pink Pony Club. The album recently charted No. 6 on the latest Billboard 200 albums chart (dated July 6).