With Lollapalooza season around the corner, here is a list of artists I have predicted to make an appearance at this year’s festival.
Lorde
Lorde, who has released two albums since her last Lollapalooza appearance in 2017, has been speculated by fans to be returning to the festival due to her increased social media popularity, which has drawn many new fans to her music.
Additionally, on July 31st, she will be performing at the Hinterland Music Festival in Saint Charles, Iowa, as part of her Ultrasound tour—which has been well received by new and old fans. Her proximity to the Chicago-land area at the time of the festival makes her presence this year likely.
Olivia Dean
Dean, who won Best New Artist at the Grammys in February, seems like a no-brainer for the festival to select. Her latest album, “The Art of Loving”, was released in September and managed to reach Top 3 in the U.S. and #1 in the United Kingdom and Australia, setting her up for a massive audience at this year’s festival.
Addison Rae
Rae, who was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys and will be performing at Coachella in April seems to be a likely pick for Lollapalooza. Coachella typically shares 20-30% of its artists with Lollapalooza, making the overlap of a few artists almost guaranteed. Her large social media presence also resonates well with Gen-Z and her past performances at Lollapalooza Chile, Argentina, and Brazil have prepared her to take on a festival like Lollapalooza Chicago.
Charlie XCX
Charlotte Emma Aitchison, known by many as Charlie XCX, is headlining Outside Lands, a musical festival in San Francisco from August 7-9th. This not only opens her calendar for a potential Lollapalooza appearance but also demonstrates that she is capable of headlining a major music festival.
Pinkpantheress
Pinkpantheress, whose real name is Victoria Beverly Walker is set to perform at the Laneway Festival and Coachella this year making her a likely candidate for Lollapalooza too. In addition, her current tour throughout North America this April includes major cities such as New York, Atlanta, Seattle, and Houston; however, she seems to have missed Chicago as a stop. When artists skip over a major city on their tour it is usually because they plan on performing in that city sometime soon.
Lastly, although she will be touring Europe throughout the late spring and summer her tour seems to have a large break from June 7th to August 14th, meaning there is space in her schedule to perform in Chicago.
Yungblud
Dominic Richard Harrison, known as Yungblud to his fans, is a possibility for the festival to bring back because of his matched energy with Gen-Z artists; a direction Lollapalooza seems to be moving in.
Importantly, his last performance at Lollapalooza was almost 8 years ago in 2018; and since he has gained an even larger following the festival is likely to consider his comeback.
Although he hasn’t performed at Chicago’s festival in 8 years, Youngblud is still connected to the Lollapalooza brand internationally having performed at the Mumbai festival in January.
Zara Larson
Larson, who released her album Midnight Sun in 2025, has been speculated by many online to be performing at this year’s festival due to the fact that she is performing at Lollapalooza Berlin in mid-July. Critics have also argued that the peak of her career was in the years 2015-2017, making Lollapalooza an excellent opportunity for Larson to play some of her classics to reestablish herself as an artist.
5 Seconds of Summer
5 Seconds of Summer, notably known as 5SOS, is currently on an international tour and will be in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 29th with their next performance being on August 3rd in New York giving them the calendar space to make an appearance. In addition, 5SOS contrasts well with the Gen-Z artists that the festival typically selects; their rock/pop blend of music makes their shows energetic.
