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Who Is Playing at All the Music Festivals This Fall? These Six Acts

Who Is Playing at All the Music Festivals This Fall? These Six Acts

When Harry Styles saunters onstage at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Sept. 4, it will be a performance 16 months in the making. The One Direction singer turned solo artist planned to go on tour last year, but like thousands of other musicians, he was unable to.

Now, Styles is part of an unprecedented throng heading back on the road all at once, a packed schedule combining many big festivals that typically occur in the summer—including the Governors Ball in New York and Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn.—plus shows in amphitheaters, indoor arenas, and clubs.

Advanced ticket sales are setting records even as the delta variant surges, a phenomenon industry executives predict will continue for the next two years, at least in countries where a majority of citizens are vaccinated. Coachella sold out for 2022 without even releasing a lineup.

If there’s any potential problem, it could be that too many performers want to get back in front of fans. “Every single night there will be a great show in every city in the country,” says Rick Roskin, co‑head of Creative Artists Agency’s contemporary music division, whose clients include Lady Gaga.

Here are six acts you won’t be able to ignore.

Hip-Hop

Who Is Playing at All the Music Festivals This Fall? These Six Acts

Megan Thee Stallion wins the award for ubiquity this fall. The Houston rapper will play three festivals in one weekend—Bonnaroo on Sept. 3, Made in America in Philadelphia on Sept. 4, and BottleRock in Napa, Calif., on Sept. 5. After a brief trip to the U.K. for Parklife and the Wireless Festival, she’ll return to the U.S. for fests in Milwaukee, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Delaware, New York (twice), Austin, and New Orleans—all before November. Although she isn’t going on a solo tour just yet, this run should help carry the momentum from her trio of Grammy Awards in March.

Pop

Who Is Playing at All the Music Festivals This Fall? These Six Acts

Billie Eilish won’t mount a global tour to support her new album until 2022, but the 19-year‑old pop prodigy is getting a head start. She’ll play two consecutive nights in Las Vegas, starting on Sept. 18, at the IHeartRadio festival, then will headline the Firefly festival in Dover, Del., before opening the first night of the Governors Ball on Sept. 24 and ending with two weekends at the Austin City Limits festival.

R&B

Who Is Playing at All the Music Festivals This Fall? These Six Acts

Neo-soul singer Leon Bridges will crisscross the country to promote his third album, Gold-Diggers Sound. He’ll play four festivals, including Railbird in Lexington, Ky., and Milwaukee’s Summerfest, before embarking on a solo tour that ends with three nights at Suwannee Hulaween in Live Oak, Fla.

Country

Who Is Playing at All the Music Festivals This Fall? These Six Acts

Jason Isbell released his latest album, Reunions, in May 2020, two months into the lockdown—and just in time for a concert season that never was. The country rocker is set to tour with his band, the 400 Unit, for the next three months, starting with shows in Salt Lake City and at Red Rocks in Colorado. He’ll play a series of smaller fests, including the Harvest Music Festival in Canada and Borderland in East Aurora, N.Y.

Rock

Who Is Playing at All the Music Festivals This Fall? These Six Acts

Fresh off smashing her guitar on Saturday Night Live, Phoebe Bridgers is ready to promote her 2020 album Punisher. The Los Angeles singer-songwriter will play the first night of Pitchfork on Sept. 10 in Chicago, then Firefly, the Governors Ball, and Austin City Limits, with complementing dates in LA, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Detroit.

And don’t forget about Dead & Company. This latest incarnation of the everlasting jam band—featuring John Mayer—will play more than two dozen shows across the U.S. this fall, including at Chicago’s Wrigley Field and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, before wrapping up at the Hollywood Bowl in LA.

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