A$AP Rocky to Be Musical Guest on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in First Show of 2026

Don’t Be Dumb — of course A$AP Rocky will be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live when the show returns for its first episode of 2026 on Jan. 17. NBC’s long-running sketch comedy show made the announcement during the Dec. 20 episode, which Ariana Grande hosted and for which icon Cher served as musical guest.

Rocky’s performance will come one day after his highly anticipated fourth studio album — whose cover art was designed by celebrated director Tim Burton — arrives, so fans can expect the rapper to show off some new music on the episode set to be hosted by Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard. The musician has also been showing off his acting chops as of late, most recently starring in Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest alongside Oscar winner Denzel Washington.

This won’t be the Grammy-nominated rapper’s first appearance on SNL. Rocky made his debut during a May 2018 sketch in the episode hosted by Donald Glover. In “Friendos” — based off of the group Migos — Glover portrayed Quavo, while Chris Redd was Offset and Kenan Thompson was Takeoff, with the rap trio at a therapist’s office working out their differences. Rocky’s cameo appearance comes as the three men exit the session, and he greets them in the waiting room.

A day ahead of the final episode of 2025, SNL star Bowen Yang confirmed that he was leaving the comedy show after first joining as a writer in 2018, and eventually being promoted the following year, making him the first Asian American cast member in the show’s history. The Dec. 20 episode was his last one, and it ended with a sketch that doubled as an emotional farewell.

Saturday Night Live returns Jan. 17 at 11:30 p.m. on NBC, and streaming the next day on Peacock.