The 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival Rocked Las Vegas With An Iconic Lineup & Superstar Surprise Collaborations
The CW Network To Broadcast An Exclusive Two-Night Television Special On October 2 and October 3 from 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. EST/PST
NEW YORK – September 22, 2019 – After two days and dozens of legendary performances, the ninth annual iHeartRadio Music Festival hosted by Ryan Seacrest concluded on Saturday evening at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with unforgettable performances by Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys, Cage The Elephant, Camila Cabello, Chance The Rapper, Def Leppard, French Montana, Green Day, Halsey, Heart, H.E.R., Hootie & The Blowfish, Marshmello with Special Guest Kane Brown, Miley Cyrus, Mumford & Sons, Steve Aoki with special guests Darren Criss and Monsta X, Tim McGraw, Zac Brown Band and more.
The iconic weekend-long concert event included the biggest names in music across all genres on the main stage at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the evenings of September 20 and September 21, and at the Daytime Stage at the iHeartRadio Music Festival on Saturday afternoon at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, which featured performances by Juice WRLD, Maren Morris, Billie Eilish, Old Dominion, H.E.R., Zara Larsson, CNCO, Brett Young, FLETCHER, Monsta X, Bryce Vine, Lauv and Loud Luxury.
Throughout a summer-long on-air and online promotion, lucky iHeartMedia radio station listeners across the country were awarded a one-of-a-kind dream trip to Las Vegas to experience the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena. For fans not in attendance, iHeartRadio on-air talent hosted a live backstage broadcast featuring exclusive artist interviews and performances that aired across iHeartMedia radio stations throughout the country in more than 150 markets and on iHeartRadio. The CW Network exclusively livestreamed both nights of the festival via CWTV.com and The CW App, and will broadcast a two-night television special on Wednesday, October 2 and Thursday, October 3 from 8 p.m. – 10 p.m. EST/PST. The CW will also air an hour-long iHeartRadio Music Festival Greatest Moments on Sunday, September 29 at 8 p.m. EST/PST.
The iHeartRadio Music Festival was a dominant social media topic throughout the weekend. The official hashtag #iHeartFestival2019 was a trending topic on Twitter in the U.S. and worldwide. The Daytime Stage official hashtag #iHeartDayStage also trended in the U.S. #iHeartFestival2019 continues to trend with tweets and retweets from fans as well as artists and Festival presenters.
Highlights of the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival and the Daytime Stage:
- Green Day returned to the iHeartRadio Music Festival stage seven years after they trashed their guitars at the 2012 iHeartRadio Music Festival and kicked off the 2019 show on Friday evening. Introduced by Ryan Seacrest and Christina Aguilera, Billie Joe Armstrong and his bandmates went through a handful of their greatest hits including "Holiday," "Basket Case," "Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and their new single, "Father of All."
- French Montana performed a number of his fan-favorite hits, beginning his set with "Intro," before transitioning into “Work,” “Shot Caller,” “All the Way Up” and “Loyal.” Bringing the crowd to their feet, the "Choppa Choppa Down" rapper went into the second half of his set performing “Ain’t Worried About Nothin” and “Unforgettable.” French Montana closed out his set by gifting fans with a few of his classics, including “Ocho Cinco,” “Pop That” and one of his latest tracks, “No Stylist."
- Heart rocked the packed house at the T-Mobile Arena on Friday night. The iconic band delivered powerful vocals and performed hits like "Magic Man," "What About Love” and "Crazy On You,” and wowed the crowd with green lasers during “Barracuda.”
- Camila Cabello took the stage and debuted her first live performances of singles “Liar” and “Shameless.” During her time on stage, Cabello was backed by a four-piece band and performed hits including "Never Be The Same" and a solo rendition of "Señorita.” Cabello brought her 20-minute set full circle by performing her breakout single, "Havana,” plus some impressive dance moves.
- Backstreet Boys returned to Sin City after their two-year Las Vegas residency to bring fans together to celebrate the BSB renaissance. The Backstreet Boys took a break from their world tour and performed some of their biggest hits including "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)," "The One," "I Want It That Way," and "Larger Than Life." The guys also performed, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart,” the hit lead single from their latest album, DNA.
- Tim McGraw paid tribute to Ric Ocasek, The Cars’ late frontman who passed away last week, and Benjamin Orr, the band’s original lead singer. McGraw performed a cover of The Cars’ 1984 hit “Drive,” as well as several songs from his own discography including "All I Want Is A Life," "One of Those Nights" and "Real Good Man.”
- Lil Nas X made a surprise appearance and brought “Old Town Road” to the iHeartRadio Music Festival as part of his two-part T-Mobile Magenta Moment. The 20-year-old rapper kicked things off with his latest single, “Panini," before pausing his set and later returning to perform "Rodeo" and his record-breaking single, “Old Town Road."
- Fletcher proved that the rising star has officially hit music festival territory and wowed the audience during her two-song Taco Bell performance set with emotional hits “Undrunk” and “If You’re Gonna Lie.”
- Cage The Elephant put on an electric show for the crowd with singer Matt Shultz delivering an epic performance. The set started with smoke filling the stage and pyro going off, then Shultz took the stage wearing a large hat and an eerie mask while singing "Broken Boy.” Once he moved on to their second song, "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked," he began to remove articles of clothing, which continued throughout the performance.
- Hootie & the Blowfish entertained the huge crowd on Friday night with hits like "Hold My Hand," "Let Her Cry," "Time" and crowd favorite "Only Wanna Be With You." The group then surprised everyone by playing the song "Hold On" from the upcoming Imperfect Circle, their first new album in 14 years. They surprised fans with their own rendition of Kool and the Gang's "Get Down On It” to end their set.
- Halsey pulled out all the stops during her time on the iHeartRadio Music Festival stage, performing a series of her hits including "Gasoline," "Bad At Love," "Nightmare" and "Without Me." In addition, she treated fans to her first live performance of her latest single, "Graveyard.”
- Steve Aoki along with special guests Monsta X, Backstreet Boys and Darren Criss closed out the festival Friday night with Aoki kicking off the set with hits including “Pursuit of Happiness.” After Aoki threw cakes in several fans’ faces on stage, Monsta X came out to perform their collaboration with Aoki, “Play It Cool.” Next, Darren Criss graced the stage to perform "Crash Into Me," his and Aoki’s Dave Matthews Band cover. The Backstreet Boys returned to the stage to help Aoki close out the show and performed their Aoki collaboration, "Let It Be Me,” and nearly recreated the tear-jerking music video on stage.
- Miley Cyrus kicked off Saturday night on an incredibly high note, beginning with her Mark Ronson collaboration, “Nothing Breaks Like A Heart,” and followed several covers from rock superstars including Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd, as well as her own emotional hits “Wrecking Ball” and new single, “Slide Away.”
- Zac Brown Band performed music from their new album, Owl, which was just released this weekend, in addition to some fan favorites including “Homegrown” and “Colder Weather.” The country crooners also performed their new pop-influenced single, "Someone I Used To Know.”
- Def Leppard immediately had the audience on their feet and screaming when they took the stage. The band kicked off their epic set with "Promises," followed by their 1987 hit, “Animal” and the legendary “Pour Some Sugar On Me.”
- H.E.R. donned her signature sunglasses and played a wide array of instruments on Saturday night. The musician sang hits including “Carried Away” and “Best Part,” while a full choir joined H.E.R. to complete the final song of her set, a mind-blowing cover of Ed Sheeran’s “Make It Rain.”
- Alicia Keys brought her catalog of hits and threw it back to 2012, performing her mega-hit "Girl On Fire," followed by "Sleeping With A Broken Heart." She also performed her latest single, "Show Me Love," featuring Miguel, but mixed in the R&B singer’s part with Post Malone's "Congratulations." The songstress followed-up the light-hearted surprise duet with Lewis Capaldi as they sung his new single, "Someone You Loved."
- Mumford & Sons began their set with "Guiding Light" off their latest album, Delta, followed by their hit song "The Cave." During the band’s set, they said the event boasted the "most eclectic lineup of musicians" that they "never thought [they] would be lucky enough to share a line-up with."
- Chance The Rapper had the crowd mesmerized as he performed hits including "No Problem," "Blessings 1," and one of his newest tracks, "Do You Remember," off his recently released debut album, The Big Day. As the rapper performed “Blessings 2,” he encouraged the crowd to sing the lyrics "are you ready for your miracle?" and directed their attention up above.
- Marshmello and Kane Brown closed the epic show with a sentimental performance of their new collaboration, "One Thing Right.” Marshmello appeared behind the turntables to perform singles like “Wolves,” “Friends” and “Happier.”
- T-Pain surprised the audience on Saturday night with an entertaining two-part medley of hits. As part of his T-Mobile Magenta Moment, the iconic rapper performed mega-hits from his impressive catalogue, including “Buy U A Drank” and “Bartender.”
- The 2019 The iHeartRadio Music Festival also featured celebrity appearances from Audrina Patridge, Christina Aguilera, Dennis Quaid, Ian Ziering and Tori Spelling from Beverly Hills 90210, James Van Der Beek, Julianne Hough, Kennedy McMann and Scott Wolf from The CW's Nancy Drew, Kevin Smith, Lucy Hale, Ashleigh Murray, Jonny Beauchamp and Julia Chan of The CW’s Katy Keene, Rachel Skarsten from The CW’s Batwoman, Scott Foley, Shawn Wayans, Taye Diggs from The CW’s All American, Ashley Iaconetti, Becca Tilley, Ben Higgins, Brooks Laich, Dean Unglert, Derek Peth, Eric Winter, Gavin DeGraw, Jared Haibon, Mike Johnson, Roselyn Sanchez, Tayshia Adams, Wells Adams and more, plus host Ryan Seacrest and iHeartRadio’s on-air talent, Big Boy, Bobby Bones, The Breakfast Club, Woody, Tanya Rad and Sisanie.
In the past nine years, the Festival has helped raise $2 million for a number of charities including the American Association for Cancer Research, Ryan Seacrest Foundation, Musicians on Call, Augie’s Quest to Cure ALS, Lalela, The Genesis Foundation for Children, Community Foundation of NW Mississippi, City of Hope, Lupus Research Alliance, Camp Southern Ground, Kristen Ann Carr Fund and many more. Additionally, the Festival plays host to a number of critically ill children and their families through its long-term partnership with the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Proud partners of this year's event include: 100 Coconuts, Capital One®, The CW Network, JBL®, Macy's, Outback Steakhouse, Progressive® Insurance, REIGN Total Body Fuel, T-Mobile, Taco Bell® and Tic Tac and more.
The iHeartRadio Music Festival, which debuted nine years ago in celebration of the launch of the iHeartRadio digital service, has quickly become one of the most talked about music events of the year. The Festival is a live representation of the diverse music experience that fans find and enjoy through the iHeartRadio app, iHeartMedia’s free all-in-one digital music, podcasting and live streaming radio service – with more than 2 billion app downloads and more than 130 million registered users.
The iHeartRadio Music Festival is co-produced by John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises and Tom Poleman, Chief Programming Officer for iHeartMedia. For more details about the iHeartRadio Music Festival visit iHeartRadio.com/festival.