'Saturday Night Live' announces first host, musical guest of 2026

Saturday Night Live is starting 2026 with a bang. The show has locked in its first host and musical guest for the new year.

The long-running sketch has officially unveiled the pairing, teasing a high-energy start to the new year.

The countdown to 2026 just got more exciting as Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard as host and Rihanna’s partner ASAP Rocky as musical guest is set to kick off the first episode of the new year in Studio 8H.

"first show of 2026!!!" the show’s official social media accounts revealed.

Notably, while the 22-year-old Canadian actor and musician will make his SNL debut as host, the 37-year-old rapper, whose real name is Rakim Athelston Mayers, will make his musical guest debut.

Although the Am I Dreaming singer has previously made an appearance in 2018 with Donald Glover, the upcoming episode will be his major gig.

Moreover, Finn also previously played an NBC page in the Saturday Night movie, which chronicled the creation of the first ever episode of SNL.

It is pertinent to note that the NBC late night sketch show will go on hiatus for a month after the December 20 episode, hosted by Wicked star Ariana Grande with Cher as musical guest.

Then, the first show of the new year will be aired in January 2026, as SNL will return on January 17., 2026.