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Celebrating The 10th Anniversary iHeartRadio Music Festival, Virtually
September 21, 2020 at 3:53 AM (PT)
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It was the 10th anniversary of the iHEARTRADIO MUSIC FESTIVAL this past FRIDAY and SATURDAY (9/18-19) with the CW NETWORK set to broadcast the event this coming weekend on SEPTEMBER 27th and SEPTEMBER 28th from 8-10p (ET).
The virtual event was broadcast and streamed across iHEARTMEDIA stations nationwide and streamed on The CW app and CWTV.com, with performances by 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, USHER and many more, recorded live on stages in NASHVILLE and LOS ANGELES.
For the first time ever, a new innovative hologram technology, PORTL, was used at a major music festival. Due to travel restrictions amid the pandemic, BROWN was beamed in from his stage in NASHVILLE to the iHEARTRADIO THEATER in LOS ANGELES – making an appearance in life-size and 3D through the technology platform to perform “Be Like That” alongside special guests KHALID and SWAE LEE. This will mark the first time the technology is used on national television when the iHEARTRADIO MUSIC FESTIVAL broadcasts on THE CW NETWORK next weekend.
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 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 also featured special remote performances.
The official hashtag #iHEARTFESTIVAL2020 was a trending topic on TWITTER in the U.S. and worldwide.
Highlights of the 2020 iHEARTRADIO MUSIC FESTIVAL include:
- 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 10 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 KEYS' 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 10 years we’ve seen incredible talent… and we’re continuing that level of star power tonight.”
- THE BREAKFAST CLUB introduced MIGOS’ 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. 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 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 Ain't 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. BROWN was later welcomed back to the NASHVILLE stage with his full band in tow to perform “What Ifs,” “Cool Again,” “Heaven,” “Homesick,” “Like A Rodeo,” “Yeah,” “Worship You,” “One Thing Right” and his new equality anthem, “Worldwide Beautiful.”
- USHER 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 CAPITOL ONE Fan Wall, before encouraging everyone tuning in to vote in the 2020 election.
- SWAE LEE was welcomed back to the 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 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.”
The 2020 iHEARTRADIO MUSIC FESTIVAL is co-produced by JOHN SYKES and TOM POLEMAN for iHEARTMEDIA and MICHAEL DEMPSEY for DEMPSEY PRODUCTIONS.
Alicia Keys (Photo: WesandAlex) Bobby Bones (Photo: Getty Images for iHeartRadio) BTS (Photo: taeseong Kim)
Miley Cyrus (Photo: VijatMohindra)