Sesame Street Transforms Chappell Roan’s ‘Hot to Go!’ Into the Potty-Training Anthem ‘Got to Go,’ With Lead Vocals From Cookie Monster

For more than five decades, Sesame Street has built a reputation by bringing iconic musicians onto its stage and reworking their hits into teachable moments. Stevie Wonder delivered a memorable set in the early 1970s. Tony Bennett reimagined "Fly Me to the Moon" as "Slimy to the Moon," following a worm's lunar adventure. The Fugees contributed the inclusive anthem "Just Happy to Be Me," while B.B. King paid tribute to the letter that shaped his entire career. Smokey Robinson endured playful groping from the letter "U" in "U Really Got a Hold on Me." Opera diva Marilyn Horne, in what remains a favorite of this writer, performed an orchestral "C Is for Cookie" on an elaborate mock-Egyptian set, wearing a tiara crowned with a bouncing cookie. Since premiering in 1969, the program has proven time and again that education, music, and comedy can coexist seamlessly.

That tradition continues. A freshly released clip shows the show adapting Chappell Roan's "Hot to Go" into a potty-training number called "Got to Go," with Cookie Monster handling unmistakable lead vocals. The cover hews closely to the original, preserving the chanted middle section featuring Elmo and Abby Cadabby, and even incorporating toilet-flush sound effects. Rather than Muppets performing the song's signature hand gestures, singing letters spell out P-O-T-T-Y. Cookie Monster delivers his trademark broken English: "Stop and listen to me body/ It's saying that it's time for potty, There's a growing feeling in my tummy, that me gotta go pee, me gotta go pee… There they go again, now me legs are grooving/ There might be a mess if me don't get movin'… P-O-T-T-Y, woah-oh, your body knows when you've got to go…" The segment opens with a talking number one and number two. Chappell Roan, whose 2023 debut album "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess" became both a critical and commercial breakthrough, rose to fame through theatrical live performances and a devoted fanbase. Her representatives told Variety the singer had no comment on the Sesame Street adaptation. Roan, born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz in Missouri, has cited artists like Kate Bush and Lady Gaga as influences on her dramatic stage persona.

No comment was truly necessary. Allowing her and cowriter/producer Dan Nigro's track to be reworked in such a funny and creatively instructive way, aimed at young kids no less, says plenty by itself. Dan Nigro, a Grammy-winning producer who has worked with Olivia Rodrigo and Conan Gray, has been Roan's main creative collaborator throughout her ascent. Licensing the song for a preschool audience signals a readiness to welcome playful reinvention instead of protecting the original's edgy image. Sesame Street, produced by Sesame Workshop, has collected more than 200 Emmy Awards over its history and stands as one of the most lasting children's shows in broadcasting. Its approach of matching top-tier musical talent with early-childhood lessons has proven remarkably durable across generations. Notably, the show's music licensing model often involves artists donating or heavily discounting their compositions, a tradition that dates back to the program's earliest seasons when James Taylor and other stars volunteered their time. According to longtime Sesame Workshop music producer Ed Mitchell, "Artists understand that when they hand us a song, it's going to reach children who might never hear their records otherwise. That's a powerful incentive."

By handing "Hot to Go" over to Cookie Monster and friends, Chappell Roan joins a long list of artists who have permitted their work to be reshaped for Sesame Street's educational goals. The outcome is a segment that teaches bathroom independence while respecting the source material's melody and spirit. For parents and longtime viewers alike, it is yet another illustration of how the show keeps finding new ways to merge pop culture with practical learning. The program's ability to remain culturally relevant, from Stevie Wonder to Chappell Roan, underscores why it has endured as a cornerstone of childhood education for more than half a century.