The Virtual Event Featured Performances from Alicia Keys, Bon Jovi, BTS, Coldplay, Kane Brown with Special Guests Khalid & Swae Lee, Keith Urban, Migos, Miley Cyrus, Thomas Rhett with Surprise Guest Jon Pardi, sher and More, Recorded Live on Stages in Nashville and Los Angeles
The CW Network to Broadcast the Two-Night Televised iHeartRadio Music Festival on September 27 and September 28
After dozens of legendary performances, the two-day virtual stream and radio broadcast of the 10th annual iHeartRadio Music Festival concluded on Saturday evening with unforgettable performances from Alicia Keys, Bon Jovi, BTS, Coldplay, Kane Brown with Special Guests Khalid & Swae Lee, Keith Urban, Migos, Miley Cyrus, Thomas Rhett with Surprise Guest Jon Pardi, sher and more. Hosted by Ryan Seacrest, the iconic weekend-long virtual festival that was recorded on stages in Los Angeles and Nashville, streamed on The CW App and CWTV.com, and broadcasted on iHeartMedia stations nationwide Sept. 18 and 19. The CW Network will broadcast the two-night televised iHeartRadio Music Festival on Sunday, September 27 (8:00-10:00pm ET) and Monday, September 28 (8:00-10:00pm ET).
Although music fans were unable to attend the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Festival in person given the new limitations on live events during the pandemic, millions of iHeartRadio listeners were still able to experience the Festival’s traditional one-of-a-kind collaborations and surprise performances as many bands reunited to perform on a stage together again for the first time in months. In addition, fans were given the opportunity to participate in virtual meet and greets and appear in a special Capital One Fan Wall to be serenaded by their favorite artists. The 2020 iHeartRadio Music Festival, which broadcasted on iHeartMedia stations nationwide, also featured special remote performances.
The iHeartRadio Music Festival was a dominant social media topic throughout the weekend. The official hashtag #iHeartFestival2020 was a trending topic on Twitter in the U.S. and worldwide.
Highlights of the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Festival:
- Alicia Keys kicked off the first night of the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Festival performing her new hit song “Love Looks Better” and “So Done.” She welcomed everyone to the legendary show’s 10th year anniversary saying: “2020 has been something, and nothing is the same is it? But you know what I call it, I call it, ‘The Great Transformation.’ And one thing that’s true – you can never stop the music; we need it more than ever.” She added, “I was here for the very first iHeartRadio Music Festival and I’m here right now, better than ever.”
- Host Ryan Seacrest opened night one of the Festival following Alicia’s performance to tell everyone watching and listening: “Tonight we’re grateful to these musicians that have come out to bring us together through music – because that’s what the iHeartRadio Music Festival is all about – bringing together the biggest artists in the world, no matter what style of music they play.” He added, “In the past ten years we’ve seen incredible talent… and we’re continuing that level of star power tonight.”
- The Breakfast Club introduced Migos’ fiery performance in front of a virtual audience on the Capital One Fan Wall. The trio performed a mix of their hit songs “Motorsport,” “Kelly Price,” “T-Shirt,” “Fight Night,” “Narcos” and more, before putting their fists up to the virtual audience in support of Black Lives Matter.
- Bobby Bones introduced Thomas Rhett as he performed from Nashville. His performance included an array of hits including “Look What God Gave Her,” “Life Changes,” “Crash and Burn,” “Die A Happy Man” and more. He also performed his anthem “Be A Light” mentioning that it’s “one of my favorite songs that I’ve gotten to release. I hope this song, if you’ve heard it, has encouraged you, put a smile on your face, brought some joy to your life. I know it has mine.” He then introduced Surprise Guest Jon Pardi to perform “Beer Can’t Fix” together.
- Coldplay reunited virtually to provide fans with a captivating performance of their hit songs
“Viva La Vida,” “Clocks,” “Trouble in Town,” “Adventure Of A Lifetime,” “Fix You,” “A Sky Full of Stars” and more. - Elvis Duran introduced global phenomenon BTS, who just this summer had the largest streaming concert in history, to remotely perform their hit songs from Seoul, South Korea during the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Festival. The band brought all the moves as they sang and danced to “Dynamite,” “Make It Right” and “Spring Day” before closing the show with their hit song “Boy With Luv.”
- Keith Urban kicked off night two of the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Festival performing his song “Somewhere in My Car” from his car before making his way to the iHeart stage where he was joined by his full band and his guitar for a pyro-infused ending of the hit song. He continued with a performance of his songs “Blue Aint Your Color,” “Wasted Time” and his duet with Carrie Underwood, “The Fighter” as the songstress appeared on a screen behind him.
- Enrique Santos introduced Kane Brown as he was beamed from Nashville to the Los Angeles stage through a new innovative hologram technology, PORTL, for his performance of “Be Like That” alongside Special Guests Khalid and Swae Lee. Kane Brown was later welcomed back to the Nashville stage with his full band in tow to perform hit songs “What Ifs,” “Cool Again,” “Heaven,” “Homesick,” “Like A Rodeo,” “Yeah,” “Worship You,” “One Thing Right” and his new equality anthem, “Worldwide Beautiful.”
- sher opened his set with a performance of “OMG” before taking fans back in time with a new rendition of “You Make Me Wanna,” and “U Don’t Have To Call” as well as a medley of his ballads “U Got It Bad” and “Burn.” He debuted his new song “Bad Habits”and danced through a set of his hit songs “My Boo,” “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love,” “Without You” and “Yeah!,” while creating the first-ever virtual wave in history with a virtual audience of fans watching on the Capital One Fan Wall, before encouraging everyone tuning in to vote in the 2020 election.
- Swae Lee was welcomed back to the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Festival stage to perform “Unforgettable,” “Someone Said” and his new unreleased single for the very first time, “Dance Like No One’s Watching.”
- Ryan Seacrest introduced Bon Jovi as the band performed from Nashville. Bon Jovi rocked the stage as they kicked off their set with a performance of “Do What You Can,” featuring Jennifer Nettles on a screen beside them. They also performed “Lost Highway,” “Limitless” and hit classics “You Give Love a Bad Name,” “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” “It’s My Life” and “Livin’ On A Prayer.”
- Miley Cyrus closed the 10th year anniversary of the iHeartRadio Music Festival performing from the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles. She opened her set with an electrifying cover of Blondie’s “Heart Of Glass” before performing her songs “Nothing Breaks Like A Heart,” “Who Owns My Heart” and “Midnight Sky.”
Proud partners of the iHeartRadio Music Festival include Capital One and The CW. Additional proud partners across iHeartRadio platforms include GEICO®, Grifols Plasma Donation Centers, T-Mobile and Taco Bell®, with more to be announced.
The iHeartRadio Music Festival, which debuted ten 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 140 million registered users.