Chappel Roan Makes “Saturday Night Live” Debut with Queer Country Song

Fans were eagerly waiting to see which songs Chappell Roan would perform during her first Saturday Night Live set this weekend, and were in for a big surprise when she took the stage.

Roan was introduced by host John Mulaney for her first performance of the night — and debut performance on the late-night sketch show ever — delivering an energetic rendition of her song, “Pink Pony Club,” which is fittingly about her rise to fame and itch to become a performer.

When she got the mic for the second time during the show, the song she chose next wasn’t her earworm hit “Hot To Go,” or her deeply emotional songs like “Casual” or “Good Luck, Babe.” Instead, Roan took the big moment to introduce a new, queer country song.

As Mulaney pointed to the stage once more, Roan was shown standing in front of her plaid and western-clad band, also wearing an outfit that could have come straight from Dolly Parton’s closet. A fiddle was playing as the stage was decorated like a Disney version of the Wild West. Cartoon animals played on a screen in the background as Roan danced around and sang the lyrics to “The Giver.”

The queer song is an ode to pleasure and Roan’s giving nature, with the lyrics that say: “You ain’t got to tell me/ It’s just in my nature/ So take it like a taker/ ‘Cause baby I’m a giver.” The country twang of the single might be an ode to her roots in Missouri, where she’s originally from. The pop star is taking a page out of the books of other legends before her like Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, who have both created music in different genres — including country.

Saturday’s show was a big one, not only because of the fan favorites John Mulaney and Chappell Roan, but because Vice President Kamala Harris stopped by to join in on the cold open. Just three days before the 2024 election, Harris had some fun by “mirroring” Maya Rudolph, who has been playing Harris almost every week on the show.

Chappell Roan’s debut on SNL is one of many firsts that she’s experienced this year. Her sets at different music festivals attracted huge crowds, her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess was number one on vinyl, and she performed at the VMAs for the first time. The musician teased that new music was on the way in a recent Instagram post holding her album with the caption, “Album kinda popped off imo but it is time to welcome a hot new bombshell into the villa.”