Rosalía Performs 'Reliquia' En Pointe on SNL

Rosalía showed up to Saturday Night Live's 52nd season and made it count. Appearing as the musical guest on the Shane Gillis-hosted episode, she performed two tracks from her 2025 album Lux: "Reliquia" and "Magnolias." The "Reliquia" performance was the standout. She did the whole thing en pointe, turning an SNL stage into something closer to a contemporary dance piece than a standard television music spot.

This was her third SNL appearance overall. She was first introduced to the show's audience as Bad Bunny's guest in 2021, then returned in 2022 on her own for Motomami. Coming back now with Lux completes a three-album arc on that stage, and each time she's raised what the performance asks of the viewer.

What Made the Lux SNL Performance Different

The en pointe choice for "Reliquia" is not a gimmick. Lux is built around the tension between classical structure and Rosalía's pop instincts. The album moves across 14 languages and pulls from choral, flamenco, and experimental pop traditions. Performing in ballet pointe shoes on live television is an extension of that same logic: the form of the performance is doing as much work as the song itself.

She also appeared in a sketch, surfacing via thought bubble to tempt Shane Gillis away from his dying mother's bedside to catch a Jelly Roll concert at the Sphere. And before the show even aired, she was already getting the promo treatment: when Kenan Thompson pitched her on making "an album that blends pop and classical music in 14 languages," she shut it down with a flat "That's Lux, my album. I already made that." Clean.

Why Lux Is an Album Worth Tracking in 2025

Lux is Rosalía's follow-up to Motomami, which won the Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album in 2023 and swept year-end lists across publications that rarely agree on anything. Pitchfork has already flagged her as a contender for the 2027 Grammy cycle, which tells you the critical reception around this record is serious, not just hype.

For independent artists and producers watching the SNL spot, the lesson here is not just about spectacle. Rosalía has consistently used major platform moments to demonstrate craft rather than chase a viral clip. The en pointe performance is technically demanding in a way that most televised music spots are not. It respects the audience's attention.

She is the third musical guest of SNL Season 52, following Turnstile and Katseye. Gracie Abrams is up next on the October 31 episode, hosted by Inde Navarrette from Obsession, so the season is building momentum into the fall with a mix of rising and established acts.

What This Means for Artists Watching Her Career

Rosalía is one of the clearer examples working right now of an artist who controls the visual and conceptual language of her work across every format: album, live show, television performance, promo clip. Lux is not a simple record to market. It spans languages, genres, and classical references that could easily get reduced to a pitch-meeting elevator line. Instead, she keeps finding ways to let the work explain itself.

For creators in the LA scene building across music, movement, and visual art, her approach is worth studying. The SNL performance was not a stripped-down acoustic moment or a maximalist production flex. It was precise. That precision is a creative strategy as much as it is an aesthetic one.

If you are working on a project that lives between disciplines, whether that is music, dance, fashion, or something harder to name, [check our events page](/events) for upcoming showcases and panels where those conversations are happening in real time. And if you are making work that belongs in front of an audience, [submit it here](/submit).

Rosalía's SNL clips are up now across the show's channels. Watch the "Reliquia" performance in full. Then watch it again.