Roddy Ricch replaced by Bleachers on Saturday Night Live after COVID-19 exposure
The rapper was expected to perform this Saturday, January 15
“The Box” rapper Roddy Ricch will no longer be the musical performer for this week’s upcoming Saturday Night Live after a COVID-19 exposure. He’s been replaced by the band Bleachers, fronted by Jack Antonoff. The pop-rock band will now perform on Saturday’s Ariana DeBose-hosted episode. First-time host DeBose recently won a Golden Globe for her role in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.
Per Variety, a rep for Ricch confirmed that the change is due to COVID-19 exposure on his team. This week’s line-up was announced last week, and Ricch is the third musical guest shake up on SNL due to COVID-19 this season.
In October, Ed Sheeran kept SNL on its toes when he tested positive 13 days before his planned performance. Despite a petition to have him replaced by The Mountain Goats, Ed Sheeran pulled it together and was released from quarantine just before his SNL appearance.
And last month, a pared down Paul Rudd-hosted episode featured archival and pre-recorded skits, and the musical performance was scrapped all together. The necessity for a “bare-bones” show due to rising COVID-19 cases resulted in the cancellation of Charli XCX’s set with special guests Christine the Queen and Caroline Polachek.
Grammy-winner Antonoff is known as the producer behind the most recent albums from Lorde, Clairo, Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, The Chicks, and St. Vincent. The former Fun. member also crafted the soundtrack for the teen rom-com Love, Simon under Bleachers.
The band released their third studio album, Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night, over the summer and will most likely pull tracks from the LP for their Saturday Night Live guest-slot. Hopefully they will take some of the sadness out of Roddy Ricch fans over his absence.