Would it be summer without Lollapalooza? Every July, hundreds of thousands of music lovers make the pilgrimage to Chicago’s Grant Park to attend the famed music festival. This year, the lineup had everyone else sitting at home envious: Tyler, The Creator, Olivia Rodrigo, Twice, Sabrina Carpenter and A$AP Rocky, just to name a few.

If that still didn’t send you into a jealous spiral, crowds got to witness night after night of historic performances at the 4-day festival. Gracie Abrams surprised fans with pop legend Robyn, Rodrigo brought out her musical hero Weezer for a special performance, and Carpenter arrested Twice and asked them to marry her. Bet you wish you bought those tickets, don’t you?

But fear not, because we’re here to recap the can’t-miss moments from Lollapalooza 2025. Maybe it’ll convince you to secure those tickets for next year.

Good to have you back, Tyler

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Lollapalooza (@lollapalooza)

To his fans’ delight, Tyler, The Creator returned to headline Lollapalooza on its first day after pulling out from his set last year. This time, he came back bigger and better. He released a new album Don’t Tap The Glass a week before the festival – his second album in a year as he continues to tour his last one, Chromakopia. His stage production was stripped back, but he brought enough energy to rap old hits and new material for the roaring crowd.

Gracie Abrams was not dancing on her own

The Gen Z singer-songwriter closed out her Thursday set with a special surprise. In the middle of her performance of “Close To You”, Abrams invited Robyn to sing her legendary hit “Dancing On My Own”, a song she covered at Lollapalooza before and said was her favourite. The two sang each other’s songs and mashed them together for a grand finale. It was pop music crossover at its finest.

Luke Combs becomes Lolla’s first country headliner

Combs was as down-to-earth and sincere as people say he is. The first country singer to headline Lollapalooza, Combs went down memory lane with the crowd, dividing the set into chapters of his life. After heartfelt speeches about how he met his future wife and how proud he is to be from North Carolina, he ended his set with his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”, which they performed together at last year’s Grammys.

Olivia Rodrigo. That’s it.

Rodrigo is on a mission to collect as many festivals under her belt this year. After a summer of headlining European festivals, including BST Hyde Park and Glastonbury, she returns to the US to headline Lollapalooza, the first time she’s ever performed at the Chicago festival. The 22-year-old singer shows just how big of a star she is, drawing in a record-breaking crowd on Friday. Continuing her immaculate streak of guest performances from rock legends, Rodrigo brought out Weezer for a surprise cover of “Buddy Holly” and “Say It Ain’t So”. She introduced the band by saying they were the first concert she ever attended. She is officially rock’s favourite daughter.

Djo’s back in Chicago

You can take the man out of the city, not the city out the man. Stranger Things actor Joe Keery, who performs under the name Djo, used to study at Chicago’s DePaul University, so he made sure to pay homage to the Windy City. He performed his latest album The Crux in front of a blowup replica of the Chicago Bean on his Friday set. Keery also recently rejoined Chicagoan band Post Animal, and invited members Wesley Toledo and Javier Reyes to perform with him, before Post Animal’s set on Sunday. He even brought a Chicago youth choir for the closer “Back on You”. But the most special moment was undoubtedly when he sang his viral hit “End of Beginning”. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people in my entire life,” he said. Do you think he was feeling another version of him?

Twice makes history

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Lollapalooza (@lollapalooza)

America has been loving Korean acts at their festivals. Ever since J-Hope of BTS became the first Korean artist to headline a major US festival at Lollapalooza in 2022, each year has seen a major Korean act headline the Chicago festival. Following Tomorrow x Together in 2023 and Stray Kids in 2024, Twice makes history as the first K-pop girl group to headline Lollapalooza. The nine-member group performed their greatest hits like “The Feels” and “FANCY” to a sea of multicoloured, neon light sticks. They saved newer songs like “Strategy” and the title track to their new album This Is For for their encore, with a sparkling drone show to round off a historic performance.

We just got schooled by Doechii