Kanye West is set to appear as the musical guest on the 44th season premiere of Saturday Night Live this weekend (Sept. 29), but according to series creator Lorne Michaels, the Ye rapper wasn't their first choice.

In the latest episode of the Origins With James Miller podcast, Michaels revealed the series actually had Ariana Grande scheduled to perform, but the singer dropped out for personal reasons. "We had Ariana drop out for emotional reasons two days ago," he said.

Luckily for Michaels and the rest of the crew, Yeezy was willing to step up on short notice. "That's our premiere, and then Kanye stepped up, and he'll be there," the SNL creator continued.

Grande, who is the ex-girlfriend of the late Mac Miller, recently announced that she would be taking a hiatus from touring in light of the rapper's death, and on Thursday (Sept. 27) made an emotional plea on Twitter for a good day. "can i pls have one okay day. just one. pls," she tweeted. "i'm so tired pls."

In related news, Yeezy is expected to release his highly-anticipated Yandhi album on Saturday. Based on an early listen of the project, the record will feature guest appearances from 6ix9ine, Ty Dolla $ign and the late XXXTentacion. The rapper also revealed his plans to send a song to Rihanna to get her vocals on a track.

It's uncertain if 'Ye and XXXTentacion ever worked together in person but the Chicago rapper did pay tribute to X following his death.

Listen to what Michaels had to say about Kanye at the 52:26 mark below.

See Photos of Kanye West's Different Looks Over the Years

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