Bowen Yang Says Chappell Roan Was Scouted as a Potential Musical Guest By ‘SNL’s Talent Team

Between climbing the charts and making headlines for her festival performances, rising pop star Chappell Roan is having a moment — and one cast member at Saturday Night Live would like to be a part of that narrative.

In the latest episode of Las Culturistas, his podcast with Matt Rogers, Bowen Yang revealed that he attended a pair of the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer’s concerts with the show’s talent team to try and persuade them that she might make a good musical guest.

“I went to both of her Brooklyn Steel nights,” Yang said, referring to Roan’s pair of shows at the Brooklyn venue in October 2023. “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?'”

Yang said that while he wasn’t “pressing my thumb on the scale” when it came to the issue, he did offer his input on the singer as a potential SNL guest. “I did wanna be there to talk to them about, like, ‘What would booking her be like?'” he 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.'”

Billboard has reached out to representatives for SNL and Roan for comment.

Over the last two months, Roan’s star has risen quickly. Her breakout single “Good Luck, Babe!” recently broke into the Billboard Hot 100′s top 40, and is currently sitting at No. 21 on the chart dated June 22. Meanwhile, nine months after its release, her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess ascended to No. 10 on the Billboard 200 on the chart dated June 22.

During a recent concert appearance in Raleigh, N.C., Roan commented on her sudden rise, saying she was feeling a bit overwhelmed: “I think my career is just kind of going really fast and it’s really hard to keep up.”

Listen to Yang talk about Roan on the latest episode of Las Culturistas below