KATSEYE Make SNL Debut Performing 'Animal' and 'Hootie Frutti'

KATSEYE made their Saturday Night Live debut on September 26, performing "Animal" and "Hootie Frutti" from their latest EP Wild. Four of the six members took the stage, with Manon Bannerman and Sophia Laforteza currently on hiatus after both stepped back to prioritize their mental health. The moment is a clear signal of where this group stands right now: firmly in the mainstream conversation.

The SNL slot follows an August performance on The Tonight Show and a Today summer concert series appearance. In a little over a year, KATSEYE have gone from a reality competition project to one of the most visible girl groups on American television.

How KATSEYE Built to This Point

The group formed through Dream Academy, a joint venture between K-pop powerhouse HYBE and Geffen Records designed to build a globally sourced girl group from the ground up. Their debut EP SIS (Soft Is Strong) arrived in 2024 and set the foundation. The real turning point came with their 2025 second EP Beautiful Chaos, which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, their first top 10 entry, and spent more than a year on the chart.

Beautiful Chaos also produced their first two Hot 100 singles. "Gnarly" broke them onto the chart, and the Latin-pop follow-up "Gabriela" climbed to No. 21, still their highest-charting single heading into this cycle. The run earned the group Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 68th annual ceremony.

Wild pushed them to a commercial peak that few expected this quickly. The five-track EP debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 170,000 first-week units, the biggest sales week for an all-female group in years. Its lead single "Animal," co-written by Ed Sheeran, debuted at No. 24 on the Hot 100, a career high. It is also the fifth consecutive solo single the group has placed on the chart, following "Gnarly," "Gabriela," "Internet Girl," and "Pinky Up." With more than 30 million monthly Spotify listeners at points this year, the group is operating at a scale that most acts spend a decade trying to reach.

What the Wild Era Means for the Group's Trajectory

The SNL debut is not just a television booking. It is a statement about where KATSEYE sits in the pop landscape after two years of steady, deliberate momentum. A No. 1 Billboard 200 debut, a Grammy nomination cycle, and now SNL. The rollout for Wild is being executed at the level of an established act, not a group still finding its footing.

The EP's other tracks, "Pinky Up," "Bel Air," and "That Way," give the group room to keep feeding the cycle with additional singles as the tour runs through the fall.

KATSEYE is currently on their 31-date Wildworld Tour, which opened in Europe earlier this month. The North American leg kicks off in Miami in October, runs north through Canada, then moves west before wrapping in Mexico City in late November. If you want to catch them live, now is the window. Check [upcoming tour dates and live events](/events) as the North American leg takes shape.

What This Means If You Are Watching the Industry

For independent artists, labels, and creators tracking how global pop acts are built in 2025, KATSEYE is a case study worth studying. The HYBE and Geffen partnership used a reality competition format to source members globally, then built the group through a patient, multi-EP release strategy with real chart benchmarks at each stage. The result is a group that now has the commercial profile to anchor a 31-date world tour in only their second full year.

The SNL moment seals a chapter. The next question is whether the back half of the Wildworld Tour and the remaining Wild singles can push "Animal" higher on the Hot 100 and set the group up for an even bigger third album cycle. That is the story to watch through the end of the year.