Thirty-five years after Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Ferrell launched Lollapalooza as a touring festival, the annual music event kicked off its 2026 edition on Thursday, July 30, at Chicago’s Grant Park.
The 2026 edition spanned genres from pop to rock to K-pop to hip-hop, dance and beyond, with day one featuring performances by 5 Seconds of Summer, Boys Noize, sombr, Wet Leg, latest Billboard cover star Bella Kay and more. Headliners for the evening were Lorde and John Summit.
Lorde’s set made headlines when the New Zealander brought out surprise guest Charli xcx – who headlines Friday, July 31 – for a duet of the British singer-songwriter’s “Girl, So Confusing.” She also paused her set briefly when several fans near the front of the stage passed out due to the temps in the Windy City being in the mid 80s by the time her performance was scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m.
There were also other surprises for festivalgoers Thursday night, as sombr brought out fellow performers 5 Seconds of Summer during his set to deliver the group’s track “She Looks So Beautiful.” Meanwhile, during 5SoS’ own set, the guys covered Katy Perry’s classic “Teenage Dream.” Also of note that night was SB19, with the Filipino boy band – who has so far won three previous editions of Billboard’s annual Fan Army Face-Off — making history as the first P-pop to play Lolla.
And that’s just the beginning, with more than 100 artists set to take the eight stages of Lollapalooza 2026. Among them are headliners The Smashing Pumpkins, JENNIE, Tate McRae, Olivia Dean and The xx. Performing on the other stages are Lil Luzi Vert, aespa, Finn Wolfhard, CORTIS, Yungblud, Ethel Cain and many, many more.
Keep scrolling to see some of the best photos from Lollapalooza 2026.
