Indie pop act Bleachers is set to replace rapper Roddy Ricch as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live (SNL) this Saturday after the rapper had to drop out due to a COVID exposure. Ricch was set to appear alongside host Ariana Debose.

“Due to recent Covid exposure on my team and to keep everyone safe I won’t be able to perform on SNL this weekend. I’m working with the SNL team to lock in a new date though,” Ricch wrote on Instagram.

Bleachers, featuring Jack Antonoff, has worked with other major artists including Taylor Swift, Lorde, and Bruce Springsteen. The band is coming off of their third studio album, Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night, a fitting title as that’s usually what SNL tries to do. Back in 2012, he was a member of the rock duo Fun, whose album Some Nights became a massive hit.

Roddy Ricch dropping out is just another way COVID-19 is impacting SNL

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NBC

Ricch’s COVID issues are just the latest to impact SNL. On Dec. 18, the episode normally reserved as the Christmas special, was essentially canceled due to the spread of COVID-19, especially in New York City where the series takes place. The episode was supposed to be hosted by Paul Rudd, who joined the five-timers club, with musical guest Charli XCX. Rudd still ended up hosting, but the episode had no audience and only aired digital shorts. The only cast members who appeared were Michael Che and Kenan Thompson, with special guest appearances from Tina Fey and Tom Hanks.

However, the episode still had some highlights, including a hilarious digital sketch where Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant played a pair of middle-aged moms in a Homegoods commercial where they begged for grandchildren for Christmas. SNL has experimented with ways to perform the show since COVID began. At the beginning of the pandemic, many sketches were filmed from the cast member’s homes as they found creative ways to make sketches work.

Ricch is now the third musical guest to drop out of SNL due to COVID-19 issues and this includes singer Morgan Wallen who rescheduled his 2020 appearance after breaking COVID protocols. Other late-night TV shows are also having COVID-19 issues as both Seth Meyers and James Corden canceled in-studio shows as they both tested positive.

Debose is still making her SNL debut this weekend. Debose recently appeared in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and alongside SNL’s Cecily Strong in Apple TV+’s Schmigadoon.

SNL will premiere its first episode of 2022 on Jan. 15 on NBC and Peacock at 11:30 pm ET/ 8:30 pm PT.