With festival season just around the corner, lineups are being released for some of the biggest festivals around the United States. Given that Lollapalooza Chicago typically takes place in late summer, it tends to be one of the latest summer festivals to announce its lineup. Since I, and many other avid festival goers, are impatiently waiting for the lineup to be released, I will be making my own predictions.
Lollapalooza is a four day festival in Chicago. It typically takes place during the first weekend of August. Last summer, over 170 artists filled the stages and an estimated 400,000 attendees packed Grant Park.
Historically, Lollapalooza appoints eight artists as headliners. These artists play on the biggest stages at the end of the night. During each day, two performers play simultaneously on different sides of the park as a method of separating the crowds.
Since Lollapalooza draws such a large crowd with diverse music tastes, there are typically a wide variety of headlining artists. Each summer, there are usually one or two pop artists, one or two rock artists or groups, one indie/folk artist or group, one K-pop headliner and one or two DJ headliners.
These are my predictions based on artists’ success this year:
1. Charli XCX
With the massive success of her album “Brat”, Charli has had an extremely impactful year. She won two Grammys this month and charted multiple times throughout 2024. Charli will be performing at Coachella in mid-April between tour dates. Charli has a break in her performances between June 18 and Aug. 6, making that the perfect opportunity to perform at Lollapalooza, which is rumored to take place from July 31-Aug. 3.
2. Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo, like Charli, has had massive success throughout 2024. Her sophomore album “Guts” was released in September 2023 and a successful world tour followed in 2024. Though she failed to take home a Grammy in 2025, she received three in 2022. Rodrigo will be performing at Lollapalooza Paris on July 18. After that, she has a break from performances until Aug. 3 in Montreal. Considering Chicago is in the Midwest, it would be feasible for Rodrigo to perform on Aug. 1 or 2 and then make her performance in Montreal on Aug. 3.
3. Avril Lavigne
Though “Girlfriend” is always on repeat in my head, I have not heard about Lavigne in a while. To be honest, she would not be the first person that comes to mind when making Lollapalooza predictions but after a bit of research, she definitely could be an option. Though she has not had massive success this year, Lollapalooza tends to pick one or two artists that have nostalgic songs and vibes. When looking at Lavigne’s schedule, she is starting a world tour on May 18. Most of the dates are done by June 28, yet there are no dates in Chicago. Chicago is almost always a stop of artists’ world tours. For those reasons, I think there is a possibility that Avril Lavigne will be at Lollapalooza, if not as a headliner, then as a non-headlining artist.
4. Twice
With the massive success of K-pop in America, Lollapalooza has been attempting to include at least one K-pop group in their lineup. Last year, Stray Kids performed and the crowd was completely packed. The year prior, Tomorrow by Together performed and also had a lot of success. This year, I believe that the nine member girl group Twice will be the K-pop headliner. With their release of “Strategy (feat. Megan Thee Stallion),” Twice’s name has only become more popular in the United States. They will finish their sixth world tour by the end of April. Therefore, their schedule should be open for the possibility of a Lollapalooza appearance.
5. Post Malone
Though he headlined in 2021, others who have previously headlined have headlined again in the last few years. For example, Megan Thee Stallion has headlined twice in the last four years, though she did replace Tyler, the Creator in 2024. Post Malone released an album in 2024 and his tour has a gap between July 1 and Aug. 8, meaning there is availability for him to play at Lollapalooza.
6. Rüfüs Du Sol
Lollapalooza almost always adds an electronic music set or DJ set as a headliner. Though I am not well versed in this genre of music, many people online are speculating the appearance of Rüfüs Du Sol. Furthermore, there is a suspicious hole in their tour between July 30 and Aug. 3. Their Aug. 3 concert will take place in Indianapolis. Therefore, it is possible for them to attend Lollapalooza in Chicago on either Aug. 1 or Aug. 2.
7. Noah Kahan/Benson Boone
It only makes sense for one of these two artists to be at Lollapalooza this year. With both having massive success and holes in their tour schedules, I think both are possible options. However, I am unsure who will be headlining and who would not be. I find it very unlikely that both artists would be headlining but I would not be surprised to see both there. Though Boone was at Lollapalooza Chicago last summer, I think his popularity has grown and he could also be in attendance this year. Further, he is headlining at Lollapalooza Berlin, so there is a possibility that he would do both.
8. Green Day
Finally, Lollapalooza often schedules a rock act. I am not very educated in this genre of music today, but I would like to see Green Day perform. I think this would appeal to a different audience than a lot of the other acts. Green Day is currently on tour and has an opening in their schedule from July 20 through Sept. 7.
So, those are my predictions for headliners. Many suspect that Lollapalooza will release their lineup in March or April.
My other Predictions
I think that this year will be full of massive artists, whether headlining or not. Below are some more of my predictions. Most of these artists have had large success throughout 2024 but I do not think these artists will be headlining if in attendance.
Ateez (K-Pop)
Tate McRae
Gracie Abrams
Doechii
Jennie (K-Pop)
Lisa (K-Pop)
Katseye
Yeat
Lola Young
Zach Bryan
Ashe
Lil Baby
Sabrina Carpenter
Beabadoobee
Playboi Carti
Burna Boy
Kasey Musgraves
Looking ahead
I have a feeling this will be one of Lollapalooza’s best lineups yet and I’m not just saying that because I want to justify buying a ticket when they get released. The closer we get to summer, the more that people online are speculating about the lineup for this year. Regardless of the accuracy of my predictions, I believe that the artists chosen will appeal to many people with very diverse tastes in music.