So Close, Yet So Far: Questlove Is Still Chasing His SNL Dream

Questlove may have carved out a storied legacy in late-night TV, but he still has one unfulfilled goal.

The co-founder of The Roots and Tonight Show bandleader revealed in a new interview that he still dreams of being a musical guest on Saturday Night Live.

Appearing on WTF with Marc Maron, Questlove reflected on how an SNL guest spot for The Roots would fulfill a childhood dream. A lifelong SNL fan, he admitted that ambition may have even influenced his decision to join the Tonight Show.

“My willingness to risk it all… I think my decision was a very, very slow-cooking game to just be a musical guest on a show that I’ve been watching since I was five years old,” he told Maron. “In my mind, I figured, ‘Okay, we’ll come here for a little bit and then [I] eventually gotta figure out my way to get up on the eighth floor.’”

To be fair, Questlove and The Roots are far from SNL outsiders—and the group has technically already achieved that goal, albeit with an asterisk. They were quasi-musical guests in 1999 when they backed Busta Rhymes, earning a billing in Don Pardo’s opening announcement (“Busta Rhymes featuring The Roots”). They also backed Toots and the Maytals for one song in 2004.

“It’s kind of weird that I’ve been a part of SNL’s whole system in every way possible, except for the one way I want to be, which is just a musical guest on the show,” Questlove told Maron.

“We’ve backed three acts on there. Technically, The Roots were the guest for the 50th anniversary. I’ve been a punchline. I’ve been on a sketch, a [punchline on] Weekend Update. I’ve been a part of at least two Lonely Island canceled bits,” he added.

Questlove appeared as himself in the Rap Roundtable sketch on Timothée Chalamet’s 2020 episode. And earlier this year, The Roots served as the backing band for SNL50: The Homecoming Concert, and were one of several billed musical guests for SNL50: The Anniversary Special, where they performed with Lil Wayne.

The group has been Jimmy Fallon’s house band since the host launched Late Night in 2009. When signing on to the show, Questlove told the AP the gig had “enabled us to survive.”

The musician told Maron he’s kept his “obsession cards” close to his vest since becoming an NBC regular, choosing not to hype his fandom too much to the powers that be at SNL—with one exception. “The only thing that gave me away was… the first thing I did [after being hired on Tonight] was I arrived at Lorne’s office with a giant bag of popcorn.”

But the drummer has since shown his love for SNL in another way: he directed last year’s acclaimed documentary tribute, Ladies and Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music. During the making of that film, he told Fallon, he watched every single episode of the sketch show.

Questlove has said that The Roots intend to release a new album sometime this year. That could set the stage for a long-awaited musical guest appearance in the show’s upcoming 51st season.