The 2026 iHeartRadio Music Festival filled two nights at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on September 18 and 19, with a lineup that ran across pop, hip-hop, rock and country. BTS, Cardi B, Muse, Snoop Dogg, Kenny Chesney, Weezer, The Smashing Pumpkins, LE SSERAFIM, Benson Boone, Lainey Wilson and Sweden’s Zara Larsson were among the acts on the bill. Ryan Seacrest returned to host both evenings.
For Nordic audiences, Larsson’s slot was a highlight. The Stockholm singer, who broke through as a teenager and has since become one of Sweden’s most exported pop stars, brought her run of dance-pop singles to one of the busiest stages on the American live calendar. Her appearance placed a Scandinavian name alongside headliners with far larger followings, a measure of how far her career has travelled. Larsson first reached a wide audience after winning a Swedish talent show as a child, and later scored international hits that carried her onto festival bills across Europe and the United States.
BTS headlined the opening night in one of the group’s marquee shows of the year. The set drew on their recent album ARIRANG, including the songs SWIM and 2.0, before turning to older material such as the 2017 single MIC Drop. A burst of pyrotechnics closed the performance, capping a run that moved between newer tracks and songs long familiar to their audience.
Cardi B also performed on the first night, working through her singles and more recent releases and teasing plans to tour in the year ahead. The reach of the festival extended well beyond the arena. Disney+ and Hulu carried the sets live as official streaming partners, while iHeartMedia stations aired the shows across more than 150 radio markets in the United States.
The two-night format has become the event’s signature, gathering artists from different genres and eras on a single stage. This year held to that pattern, with veteran rock bands sharing the schedule alongside K-pop groups, country stars and pop regulars. For many in the crowd, the draw was the range of the program, which swept across current hitmakers and older names over the weekend.
