Who Is Backpack Kid From Katy Perry’s ‘SNL’ Performance? He’s Already A Viral Sensation

Katy Perry’s backup dancers are known for stealing the show. While her Super Bowl halftime show in 2016 left the internet obsessed with Left Shark, her “Saturday Night Live” performance introduced the world to Backpack Kid.

To promote her new album “Witness,” Perry performed her song “Swish Swish” (which may or may not be a response to Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood”) on “SNL.” The performance turned into a runway for her colorful group of backup dancers, and Backpack Kid got a nice long dance solo that left the internet buzzing. His awkward arm movements certainly weren’t what viewers were expecting.

It turns out that Backpack Kid is actually named Russell Horning, and he was an internet sensation well before Perry’s performance. With nearly half a million Instagram followers (under the username i_got_barzz), plenty of people were already fans of Horning’s wacky dance moves.

Perry didn’t bring about Horning’s first viral moment either. The teenager, who lives in Georgia, told BET he first when viral in January 2016, and he keeps finding success. In December, he went viral after Rihanna reposted a video of him.

“I think people love the videos so much because they’re original. Yeah, there are other dance videos, but mine are funny. There’s nothing else like it,” he told BET.

The teen is just trying to get laughs. He recently clarified on Instagram that he has no intention of being a serious dancer. “Just to clarify. I dance to be funny and I am not a good dancer,” he wrote. “I do not think I am good either. If you don’t think it’s funny nobody is forcing you to follow me.”

Though Perry didn’t try to copy Backpack Kid’s signature moves on stage during her “SNL” performance, Horning shared a video on Instagram that showed the pop star trying to imitate his choreography backstage. “When your mom tries to look cool,” he captioned the video.

Perry reposted the video with the caption, “trying to look cool, failing miserably.”

It isn’t clear if the teen internet sensation was allowed to go to the “Saturday Night Live” after party, but Perry definitely kept dancing through the night. The “Chained to the Rhythm” singer was jamming out to Bruno Mars’ hit “That’s What I Like” with Leslie Jones during the end of the year bash. Jones posted a video of them dancing on Twitter.

This week’s “SNL” after party wasn’t just to celebrate another episode. The May 20 episode was the Season 2 finale and the last episode for Bobby Moynihan, Sasheer Zamata and Vanessa Bayer. As previously reported, Moynihan will be seen in the fall on CBS’ new sitcom “Me, Myself & I.”

The NBC staple will return in the fall, but fans likely won’t have to wait that long for more viral moments from Studio 8H. “Weekend Update” will become a primetime show starting Thursday, Aug. 10 on NBC. Colin Jost and Michael Che will host the half hour show and other “SNL” cast members are expected to appear.