'SNL' Musical Guest Cancels After Major Illness, Replacement Revealed

Saturday Night Live announced that next week's musical guest will be Lizzo, but she is actually replacing the original guest: the band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The band announced on Instagram that they would not be able to perform on Saturday, Dec. 17 because guitarist Nick Zinner is suffering from Pneumonia. Afterward, Lizzo tweeted: "It's an honor to fill in for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs who unfortunately could not perform next week."

The official Yeah Yeah Yeahs Instagram account posted a lengthy note to fans in the early hours of Sunday morning, explaining why they would not be performing on SNL next week. It read: "As many of our fans know Nick has had pneumonia over the past month and it's been an up and down recovery process. The band's top priority is supporting Nick through a full recovery, as a result we had to pull out from our engagements at KROQ's Acoustic Christmas and Saturday Night Live. YYYs have enjoyed the incredible highs of being supported on KROQ and the huge honor of being chosen to close out SNL's 2022, we are deeply thankful and expected heartbroken we cannot rise to the occasion."

"It's been a tough week, and it's been a tough year on the health front for us alongside so many artists who are committed to connecting with audiences amidst a pandemic," they continued. "We sent our love to our fans and supporters, thank you for your understanding and well wishes, it means the world to us. Wishing you a healthy and happy rest of 2022, we're looking forward to a strong return in 2023. Much love, Karen, Nick, and Brian."

Fans left their well-wishes for Zinner and the rest of the band in the comments. One person wrote: "Get better soon Nick! Sending love to you all," while another added: "Ughhhh no wayyy!!! But health always comes first!!!! Y'all should play the Super Bowl let's just be honest." A third person commented: "Get well soon Nick. Hope you can reschedule a 2023 return to SNL."

Lizzo appeared on SNL earlier this year as both the host and musical guest, but next weekend she will only be the musical guest. She will join host Austin Butler, who is courting award nominations for his performance in Elvis and promoting his upcoming role in Dune: Part Two next year. Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 17, 2022. Previous episodes are available to stream on Peacock and Hulu.

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