Olivia Rodrigo performs unreleased track on SNL

Olivia Rodrigo premiered an unreleased song titled ‘begged’ during her second performance on Saturday Night Live after an introduction by Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie. Rodrigo sang the track while seated on a swing, mirroring the cover art for her third studio album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. The upcoming record, which features the singer upside-down on a swing, arrived in stores and on streaming platforms on 12 June.

The song is a subdued, melancholic ballad centered on longing and uncertainty. “All that I want is to know undoubtedly that you just have eyes for me,” Rodrigo sang. “All that I want is to sit here silently and watch movies on TV.”

The lyrics continue in a similarly intimate tone, with Rodrigo singing, “What a shame you’re not here / here to witness my devotion and my endless well of needs,” and later, “I feel trapped inside my life.”

Rodrigo recorded the album with longtime collaborator Dan Nigro, who also worked with her on “Sour” and “Guts.” She previously described the new project as a collection of “sad love songs,” written from a more reflective emotional place.

Earlier in the night, Rodrigo pulled double duty as host, opening the show with a monologue that revisited her Disney Channel beginnings on Bizaardvark and included a musical parody of her breakout hit Drivers License, reworked into a DMV story about getting a Real ID.

The performance follows a busy stretch for Rodrigo, who recently joined Addison Rae onstage at Coachella and also played a one-night-only show at The Echo in Los Angeles last week. Rodrigo first broke out in 2021 with “Sour,” followed by 2023’s “Guts,” quickly becoming one of pop’s most commercially dominant young artists, earning three Grammy Awards and an Album of the Year nomination for both albums.

-Variety