The first batch of musical guests for Rosalía’s SNL season 52 appearance has been confirmed, with NBC lining up a run of October dates that also brings Turnstile and Gracie Abrams to Studio 8H for the first time this cycle. The 52nd season of NBC‘s Saturday Night Live premieres on 26 September 2026.
How the SNL Season 52 Schedule Breaks Down
The season kicks off with a pairing that feels deliberately crowd-pleasing. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the premiere airs at 11:30 p.m. ET on 26 September, with NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson hosting and K-pop group KATSEYE as musical guests. Both are making their SNL debuts. Brunson plays guard for the New York Knicks, according to lohud, which makes him the kind of local-hero booking the show has always leaned into for season openers.
The second episode, on 3 October, is where things get properly interesting for the music side. Turnstile will make their first ever SNL appearance, with Dakota Johnson hosting for the third time. A hardcore band from Baltimore crossing over to late-night network television is the sort of booking that tends to divide opinion online for about 48 hours and then age very well.
Then on 10 October, Rosalía’s SNL season 52 slot arrives. It will be her second appearance on the show, alongside host Shane Gillis. The week after that, on Halloween, Gracie Abrams plays SNL for the second time on an episode hosted by Inde Navarrette, billed in promotional materials as the star of Obsession.
What Rosalía SNL Season 52 Means for This Year’s Lineup
Taken together, the first four episodes sketch out a season that is trying to cover a lot of ground at once. KATSEYE represent the continued pull of K-pop on American mainstream television. Turnstile are a sharp pick for anyone who has been watching the band’s trajectory over the past few years. Rosalía, returning for a second time, confirms her position as a consistent presence in the kind of cultural moments SNL has always traded in.
Gracie Abrams rounding out the Halloween slot is a logical move. Her first appearance on the show was warmly received, and a second booking this early in a season suggests the network sees her as reliable marquee material rather than a one-off.
For context, the 51st season ran from September 2025 to May 2026 and featured musical performances from Doja Cat, Sabrina Carpenter, Dijon, Olivia Rodrigo and others. The 52nd season’s opening run is already shaping up with a similar mix of pop, alternative and crossover appeal, though the Turnstile booking in particular pushes further into rock territory than the previous season’s lineup suggested.
NBC has not yet announced hosts or musical guests beyond the 31 October episode. More casting announcements are expected as the season progresses, and the Rosalía SNL season 52 date on 10 October is shaping up as one of the more anticipated performances of the autumn run. With Turnstile on 3 October and Abrams on 31 October either side of it, that three-week stretch in the middle of the month is going to be worth clearing your Friday nights for.
