Lara Raj, Yoonchae, Daniela Avanzini and Megan Skiendiel of Katseye perform live on stage at Accor Arena on September 09, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by Kristy Sparow/Getty Images)
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Live from New York…it’s KATSEYE! NBC announced Wednesday morning that the global girl group will serve as the musical guest on the upcoming Season 52 premiere of Saturday Night Live, marking the act’s first SNL appearance for the long-running and beloved sketch series.
The premiere airs Saturday, September 26, with New York Knicks captain and 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 – Sports honoree Jalen Brunson making his hosting debut. Brunson was named MVP of the 2026 NBA Finals, which delivered NYC’s home team their first championship in 53 years.
KATSEYE’s SNL debut is followed by another first-timer in Turnstile with the Baltimore band performing on the October 3 episode hosted by Dakota Johnson, her third time in the role and one day after her film Verity opens in theaters.
Rosalía returns to Studio 8H on October 10 for her second turn as musical guest and first appearance since March 2022. The performance lands two days before the first round of Grammy voting opens, marking ideal timing for the Spanish superstar to gain additional attention for her critically acclaimed LUX album. Comedian and former SNL actor Shane Gillis hosts that episode, also his third time.
After a two-week break for the show, Gracie Abrams supplies the Halloween-night soundtrack on October 31, her second visit to the show, while Obsession breakout star Inde Navarrette makes her hosting debut. Beyond SNL, Navarrette is also set to appear in an upcoming X-Men film and the Apple Studios’ thriller The Waffle House Index. Peep below for an easy schedule
Saturday Night Live (SNL) Season 52 Episodes:
| Date | Host | Musical guest | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 26 | Jalen Brunson | KATSEYE | Both making ‘SNL’ debuts |
| October 3 | Dakota Johnson | Turnstile | Johnson’s third hosting stint; Turnstile’s debut |
| October 10 | Shane Gillis | ROSALÍA | Gillis’ third hosting stint; ROSALÍA’s second appearance |
| October 31 | Inde Navarrette | Gracie Abrams | Navarrette’s hosting debut; Abrams’ second appearance |
Episodes air live on NBC at 11:30 p.m. ET and simulcast on the Peacock app with next-day streaming.
KATSEYE Is A Rare All-Female Outfit Booking For SNL
For KATSEYE, the booking arrives at the most commercially significant moment of the group’s career to date.
Their third EP, WILD, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last month with 170,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S., marking their first No. 1 on the chart after Beautiful Chaos peaked at No. 4 in 2025. That figure represented the largest week by units for an all-woman group since the Billboard 200 began ranking by units in December 2014, and made WILD the fourth No. 1 album by a female group this decade, following TWICE, NewJeans and BLACKPINK.
KATSEYE marks the first all-female group to perform on the show since Boygenius performed on the November 11, 2023 episode hosted by Timothée Chalamet. All-female acts are rare on the show with HAIM serving as musical guests on November 23, 2013, and May 13, 2017. But to find a more traditional girl group in the style of KATSEYE, you’d have to go all the way back to May 5, 2004, when Destiny’s Child performed, promoting what would be their farewell album as a trio Destiny Fulfilled, with Robert De Niro as host.
The appearance lands in the midst of KATSEYE’s THE WILDWORLD Tour, which opened this past September 1 at Dublin’s 3Arena (and reportedly sold out in under 48 hours) and has included a two-night stand at The O2 in London. The SNL episode would take place during the group’s break between the European and North American legs of the tour with future dates including double headers at the UBS Arena in New York, the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City. At press time, KATSEYE is touring with four members (Daniela, Lara, Megan and Yoonchae) as the two remaining (Sophia and Manon) are on hiatus for various health reasons.
Still, the Saturday Night Live booking carries special weight for a group assembled within the K-pop system but built for the American market. KATSEYE was formed through The Debut: Dream Academy, the 2023 singing survival program jointly launched by HYBE and Universal Music Group’s Geffen Records, before making their debut in 2024. BTS, whose success helped create what would become HYBE, became the first Korean act to appear as an SNL musical guest in April 2019 — a milestone that remains only theirs seven years later. KATSEYE’s youngest member Yoonchae will join BTS as one of the few Korean singers to grace the Saturday Night Live stage.
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