How Role Model’s concert gimmick became a cultural phenomenon

When the singer Role Model steps to one side of the stage during his concert and poses the question, “Where’s my Sally tonight?” the crowd erupts in cheers. They know what’s coming: A celebrity or enthusiastic crowd member will saunter to join the performer and dance a little as they’re being serenaded, basking in the spotlight.

The unveiling of “Sally” that takes place every time Role Model plays the song “Sally When the Wine Runs Out” has given the 28-year-old singer, whose real name is Tucker Pillsbury, his biggest hit. Many of those reveals go viral on social media, often featuring beloved celebrities like Hilary Duff, Kate Hudson or Natalie Portman. Sometimes, Pillsbury picks a fellow pop performer to role-play alongside him onstage, like Conan Gray, Troye Sivan or Griff.

Sally varies in level of fame, age and gender, but she (or he) is always enthusiastic. There’s so much zeal, in fact, that some people have begun to use the term “Sally” online to denote a person’s confidence and main character energy. The Summer I Turned Pretty showrunner Jenny Han used the term to describe the series star, Lola Tung, as she confidently danced on set and in behind-the-scenes footage.

Despite the word’s climb into the lexicon, there is no Sally without Role Model, and no Role Model without Sally.

What does it mean to be Sally?

Pillsbury’s song is about the intense but potentially fleeting connection he feels with someone while they’re out drinking. “Don’t go falling in love, then disappear when the wine runs out,” he pleads in the chorus. Sally is described as a “born-again wild card” who “can be a diva,” but she doesn’t get much characterization beyond that. The song is more about the situation that he’s in than the traits of the person whose affection he’s craving.

Pillsbury told an alternative radio station in Los Angeles that his process for picking Sally is “different every night,” but “it’s just based on whoever’s giving the most energy” in the crowd. That could be during his performance or before the concert even starts. Lately, as Pillsbury performs at high-profile music festivals like Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, it’s been mostly famous people selected to play Sally — and technically, that’s how it all began.

Influencer and podcaster Jake Shane was the first Sally. Pillsbury told the New York Times that Shane was rumored to be the inspiration for the song, so he asked him to come out onstage as he performed. Fans loved it, so he kept doing it. Pillsbury has since picked a dance teacher, a 7-year-old boy and his own mom, proving Sally knows no true age or status: she’s a vibe.

Main character energy

Concert stunts like Sally aren’t new — Pillbury’s foray reminds people of when Bruce Springsteen pulled Courteney Cox onstage, or when Taylor Swift brought out a special guest at many of the stops on her 1989 tour. Artists frequently collaborate with their famous friends, but surprising fans with a high-profile cameo adds a must-see element to their performances. Even if you weren’t at the show, you can be a part of the zeitgeist.

Lately, these moments engineered for virality have become commonplace. Aided by social media algorithms that detect people’s fandom and feed them posts based on who or what they love, videos of Role Model’s Sally, Charli XCX’s “Apple” Girl and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Juno” arrests end up making headlines and dominating feeds with every new person plucked to dance under the spotlight.

“Sally When the Wine Runs Out” is emotional and upbeat, which in turn wraps audience members and viewers at home in fuzzy feelings that they then associate with both Pillsbury and Sally. But with each passing performance, the song becomes less popular for its melody and lyrics and more for its power to anoint a new main character.

Sally is like a rom-com heroine for the stage: She’s got that special, enticing something that makes a relative stranger want to know more about her, but she’s selective about who she gives her attention to. She wants to shine. Onstage with Pillsbury, she does.

With these stunts, singers are picking a new face to embody their hits. The reveal is so exciting, it shifts the focus of the performance away from the music to the crowning of a new “it” person for the night. Fans then eagerly dissect the choice online. It reveals allegiances and hidden networks between celebrities — is Carpenter dating Joe Keery because she cuffed him during her Austin City Limits set? Did Pillsbury become good enough friends with Portman filming the movie Good Sex that she’s willing to play Sally? Some choices are clearly made to get fans riled up, which gets them posting, raising the profile of the singer who kicked off the stunt in the first place. The song then becomes an added bonus.

This creates a feedback loop: Role Model picks Sally, Sally gets to shine in a seemingly spontaneous moment where all eyes are on her, the audience experiences the thrill of seeing the selection happen, which they then share on social media and continue to dissect.

Pop stars are still feeling the pressure to turn their shows into can’t-miss events that go viral online, even as competitive ticket sales and soaring prices make concerts feel more inaccessible. Liz Duff, host of pop culture podcast Late Night Scrolling, tells Yahoo that with these stunts, “artists can manufacture moments to ensure there is a consistent difference [between performances] that will make every show unique … and worth buying a ticket for.”

Fans in the crowd also want to capture these singular moments that make their shows feel special, so they can then share their experience and go viral too.

Duff says Pillsbury’s stunt benefits the chosen Sally, whether she’s an A-list actress or a singer who hasn’t broken out as much as Pillsbury has. They appeal to a wide range of audiences too, from the millennials who love Hudson and Portman to the Gen Z-ers who stan fellow Sallies Olivia Rodrigo and Reneé Rapp. Audiences could be learning about Pillsbury from his Sally, or about his Sally from Pillsbury. That’s how fandom is built.

“We’ll see Sally continue to climb the charts as it makes headlines with [Role Model’s] new guests every night,” Duff adds.

Thanks to Pillsbury, Sally is more than just a stand-in for a fleeting romantic entanglement. She’s who we all want to be — someone with all eyes on her, hand-selected by the person we’re all here to see.