Watch Maggie Rogers Perform Heartfelt Rendition of ‘Light On’ in ‘SNL’ Debut
Maggie Rogers made her Saturday Night Live debut on the show’s latest Jonah Hill-hosted episode, joining Kanye West, Paul Simon and Travis Scott as musical guests on the 44th season.
The high-profile appearance was likely the first time many SNL viewers had heard of Rogers, who first popped up on music fans’ radars with her 2016 single “Alaska.”
While she didn’t perform “Alaska” on the show, Rogers did provide a preview of her upcoming debut LP Heard It in a Past Life with a stripped-down version of her latest single “Light On”; the track was recently named one of Rolling Stone‘s Songs You Need to Know.
Later in the show, the 24-year-old singer exuded more confidence, bringing a flawless rendition of her song “Fallingwater,” while dancing barefoot on the Studio 8H stage. “Fallingwater” also featured former Vampire Weekend member Rostam Batmanglij, who also produced the track. “Fallingwater is the 7th song i’ve done on SNL,” the producer tweeted soon after.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3T9UdK90YE
Rogers became a viral sensation in 2016 when, during a master class session at NYU, she performed her future single “Alaska” for Pharrell, who was brought to tears by her performance. Rogers soon became a protege of the N.E.R.D. producer.
“There are a lot of things worse to be than the ‘Pharrell girl.’ I hope that’ll wear off,” Rogers told Rolling Stone in 2017. “I really want to make a great record, like my Rumours or Thriller.”
Ahead of this weekend’s episode, SNL released a promo featuring star Pete Davidson who recently ended his engagement with Ariana Grande jokingly proposed to Rogers.