Chappell Roan may have had the biggest Lollapalooza set of all time
The 26-year-old rising pop star garnered an unprecedented-sized crowd at the Lollapalooza music festival over the weekend, according to organizers.
“Chappell’s performance was the biggest daytime set we’ve ever seen. It was a magical moment added to Lolla’s DNA,” a spokesperson for Lollapalooza told CNN.
Roan — the Gen Z pop star who’s had a meteoric rise this summer, thanks to her 2023 single, “Good Luck Babe!” rising on the charts and 2024 song “Feminomenon” blowing up on social media — performed Thursday at Lollapalooza on the first day of the Chicago music festival.
“It’s Chappell’s world and we’re just living in it,” a post on X from Lollapalooza’s official account said, showing an image of a massive crowd in Chicago’s Grant Park.
While the exact number of attendees at Roan’s set is not yet clear, a spokesperson for Lollapalooza told CNN that 110,000 people attended the festival each day this year.
Two sources close to the singer and the festival told CNN that the crowd rivaled many headliners and is believed to be Lollapalooza’s biggest set of all time, anywhere in the world.
Lollapalooza, which debuted as a touring event in 1991, expanded internationally in 2010, now with festivals across the globe in Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Sweden, France and India.
This year, Lollapalooza headliners included Blink 182, The Killers, SZA, Megan Thee Stallion and Melanie Martinez.
Roan was initially supposed to play on a smaller stage at Lollapalooza, but interest was so high in the weeks leading up to the event that she was moved to the main stage, swapping set times with Kesha, a representative for Lollapalooza told CNN.
This is not the first time that the breakout star over-performed — quite literally.
In June, Roan drew an audience so big at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee that festival organizers had to move her set to a bigger stage to accommodate a massive crowd. Bonnaroo came after Roan had performed at Coachella in Indio, Calif., and then at Governor’s Ball in New York where her performance went viral for political statements she made onstage while wearing a drag-inspired Statue of Liberty costume with her full body painted green.
Next up for Roan is Outside Lands at Golden Gate Park next weekend. The star wasn’t scheduled as a headliner, but it would be smart for organizers in San Francisco to prepare for a major crowd.
The overwhelming response to Roan's performance at Lollapalooza extends beyond music, with a popular post on the festival's official account declaring, "It's Chappell's world and we're just living in it." The entertainment provided by Roan at Lollapalooza was so captivating that it rivaled many headliners and is believed to be the festival's biggest set ever.
