Dua Lipa performs songs from her new album, “Radical Optimism” while also hosting “Saturday Night Live” on May 4, 2024. Courtesy Photo
Dua Lipa pulled double duty as host and musical guest during Saturday Night Live on May 4.
In between her hilarious sketches (including a dissection of Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s ongoing beef), the 28-year-old pop star performed two songs from her just-released third studio album, Radical Optimism.
With an introduction from fellow pop star and former tourmate Troye Sivan, Lipa opened with the summery “Illusion,” which served as the third single from her new LP. For her second performance, the artist received an intro from comedian Jerry Seinfeld before launching into a passionate delivery of “Happy For You,” which closes out Radical Optimism.
Lipa’s 11-track Radical Optimism — her first proper album since 2020’s Future Nostalgia — arrived Friday (May 3) and also features previously released singles “Houdini” and “Training Season.” The former debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while the latter entered the chart at No. 27.
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“[Releasing the album] feels good. It feels for lack of a better word — radically optimistic,” she previously told Billboard, before explaining the idea behind the album cover, which features the singer floating in a wide open ocean facing a shark fin. “Throughout the whole record, there’s this idea of chaos happening around and me trying to push through it in a way that feels authentic and honest to me.”
Saturday’s SNL marks Lipa’s third time appearing as musical guest on the long-running sketch comedy show and her first time hosting. The “Levitating” singer was previously a musical guest in 2018 and 2020.
Following Saturday’s episode, season 49 will wrap up with two new episodes: May 11, with former SNL star Maya Rudolph hosting for a third time and Vampire Weekend as musical guest for a fourth time, and May 18 with Jake Gyllenhaal hosting a third time and Sabrina Carpenter making her musical-guest debut.
Watch Dua Lipa’s SNL performances below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.
