Usher, Migos, Kane Brown and Khalid are a few of the big names who will take part in the 10th annual iHeartRadio Music Festival. The concert event will take place from Sept. 18-19 on stages in Los Angeles and Nashville and will be streaming live on the CW app. It will air on the CW on Sept. 27 and 28.
Of course, this year is going to be a bit different for the organizers, performers and audience due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The event will obviously be virtual in an effort to stop the spread of the illness and encourage social distancing. However, it promises to present fans with “one-of-a-kind collaborations and surprise performances as many bands reunite to perform on a stage together again for the first time in months,” reads a press release obtained by The Root. Remote performances will also be streamed during the festival.
“It’s hard to believe that this September will be the 10th iHeartRadio Music Festival,” Tom Poleman, Chief Programming Officer for iHeartMedia, said in a statement. “The 2011 Festival was iHeart’s first national marquee event and became the model for our hugely successful series of iHeart-branded music events broadcast and streamed across the country on radio, television and online. More than 200 superstar artists have made our iHeartRadio Music Festival the biggest in the world, and this year’s lineup, even amidst a global pandemic, will be one for the history books.”
The 2020 iHeartRadio Music Festival will also bring non-celebrities into the mix. The press release states that select fans will participate in virtual meet-and-greets with their favorite artists, and will also have the chance to introduce musicians before their performances. A special opportunity presented by the festival’s sponsor Capital One also immerses fans in the show with the Capital One Fan Video Wall.
“We worked closely with the artist community to create a safe way for them to step back on stage and perform for millions of their fans on the radio and television,” John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises for iHeartMedia, says of this year’s changes in the press release. “It’s our commitment to help the artists whose music we play here at iHeart stay connected to their fans.”
The iHeartRadio Music Festival has been applauded for its commitment to showcasing acts across genres. The inaugural festival included Drake, Kanye West, Prince, U2, Bon Jovi, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sir Elton John and many more.