iHeartRadio Music Festival reveals 2026 lineup with BTS, Cardi B and Muse

iHeartMedia has unveiled the lineup for its 2026 iHeartRadio Music Festival, with BTS, Benson Boone, Cardi B, Kenny Chesney, Lainey Wilson, Major Lazer, Muse, Snoop Dogg, Weezer, Zara Larsson and the Goo Goo Dolls among the acts confirmed and more still to come.

The two-night event returns to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on 18 and 19 September, hosted by Ryan Seacrest. Capital One comes back as presenting sponsor, with cardholder priority access ahead of a general on-sale through AXS.

Spanning pop, country, hip-hop, rock and electronic acts, the bill is engineered to appeal across genres and generations, reflecting the festival's role as a flagship showcase for one of America's largest media companies.

A multi-platform showcase

Beyond the arena, the festival functions as a sprawling media property. It will be broadcast live across iHeartMedia's radio stations, while the livestream will be carried on Disney+ and Hulu, extending its reach far beyond the venue and underlining radio's pivot to multi-platform events.

The festival has long been more than a concert; it is a content engine that radiates across radio, streaming, social media and television. By distributing the livestream through major subscription platforms, iHeartMedia ensures the event reaches audiences who will never set foot in the arena, multiplying its value to sponsors and partners.

That multi-platform strategy reflects how legacy broadcasters have adapted to a fragmented media landscape. Rather than relying on terrestrial radio alone, iHeartMedia leverages its events to create programming that travels across every screen, reinforcing its relevance in an era dominated by streaming and on-demand consumption.

The genre breadth of the lineup is itself a strategic choice. By assembling a bill that spans a globally dominant pop group, chart-topping country acts, hip-hop veterans, rock stalwarts and electronic producers, the festival maximises the number of audiences it can draw across radio formats, while giving the livestream partners a programme with something for almost every demographic.

Sponsorship at the centre

The sponsorship structure, with Capital One bundling priority tickets and an exclusive pre-show experience, illustrates how flagship festivals have become tightly integrated marketing vehicles as much as concerts.

Presenting sponsorship of a marquee festival offers a brand far more than logo placement. Through priority access for cardholders and exclusive experiences, Capital One turns the event into a tangible benefit of its product, deepening customer loyalty while associating itself with the cultural cachet of a star-studded lineup.

For iHeartMedia, such partnerships are central to the economics of staging an event of this scale. The festival's commercial model rests on weaving sponsors into every layer of the experience, from ticketing to broadcast, making the brand integration as much a part of the production as the music itself.

The festival's value as a media and marketing property rests on several pillars:

• A cross-genre lineup designed to draw broad, multi-generational audiences.
• Live broadcast across iHeartMedia's national network of radio stations.
• A livestream distributed through Disney+ and Hulu to reach streaming audiences.
• Deep sponsor integration offering priority access and exclusive experiences.
• A two-night Las Vegas staging that concentrates attention and media coverage.

“More artists are to be announced for the September lineup.”

— iHeartRadio festival announcement

Background

The iHeartRadio Music Festival has been a fixture of the Las Vegas calendar for well over a decade, growing into one of the most-watched music events in the United States. Its formula of assembling a wide-ranging lineup of major acts across two nights, hosted by a familiar broadcasting personality, has proven durable and adaptable as media consumption habits have shifted.

iHeartMedia, which operates a vast network of radio stations alongside a growing digital and podcasting business, uses the festival as an annual demonstration of its reach and convening power. The event ties together the company's radio, streaming and live ambitions, showing that a legacy broadcaster can still gather some of the biggest names in music around a single brand.

What happens next

With more artists still to be announced and tickets moving through cardholder pre-sales toward a general on-sale, anticipation will build toward the September dates. For iHeartMedia, the festival is an annual showpiece that ties together its radio, digital and live ambitions, and a reminder that a legacy broadcaster can still convene some of the biggest names in music around a single brand. Its reach across radio and streaming will once again test how effectively a traditional media company can command attention in a crowded entertainment landscape.