Saturday Night Live fans spend a lot of time obsessing over which cast members are brought back each summer, but there’s another part of the equation that’s arguably just as important. The success or failure of a particular SNL episode often comes down to the quality of celebrity host and musical guest, and for the first time in a long time, the sketch comedy show is making a major behind the scenes change to how it brings in guest stars.
For nearly three decades, Brian Siedlecki has been a key voice in booking the musical guests for the show, but in a surprise decision, SNL has apparently decided not to renew his contract. The producer started with SNL all the way back in 1996, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, has been fully booking musical talent on the show since 2001. Under his direction, the show has found a balance between platforming buzzy up-and-comers, A-list mainstays and Rock N Roll legends.
Last year’s list, as an example, is a murderer’s row of talent including Paul McCartney, Sabrina Carpenter, Cher, Mumford & Sons, Noah Kahan, Gorillaz, Cardi B, Harry Styles, Oliva Rodrigo, ASAP Rocky, Brandi Carlile and Jack White, among others. It’s hard to imagine anyone complaining about the star quality of that grouping, but apparently, the show is going to head in a new direction.
It’s worth noting that SNL also employs two other music bookers: Keri Powers and Rebecca Schwartz. They’ve been with the show since 2014 and 2015, and most people outside the show’s ecosystem don’t really have a clear picture of who is booking which guests and what specific roles each person has had. So, it’s entirely possible that the booking philosophy we saw under Siedlecki will largely remain the same, and it’s also possible that the show will go in a different direction under Powers and Schwartz.
There's a world in which Season 52 goes with even more established names like McCartney and Carpenter, and there's another world in which it pushes more toward artists like Geese, Sombr and Dijon who may not be household names with most older Americans but are more relevant to the modern music scene. It'll be fascinating to see what happens.
Final decisions on casts, hosts and musical guests haven’t been made for Season 52 yet, but with the new season expected to premiere within the next month or two, we should start getting some announcements pretty soon. We know longtime cast member Chloe Fineman is departing the show, and Bowen Yang, of course, left during the middle of last season. Those departures, plus potential exits of some under-utilized cast members, could mean we’ll see a few new cast members. The bulk of the bigger names, however, are expected to be back, as the show continues to rebuild around Ashley Padilla and all the young talent around her.
