The 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival Returned to Las Vegas With an Iconic Lineup and Unforgettable Moments
The CW Network Will Broadcast a Two-Night Television Special on Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8 from 8 – 10 p.m. ET/PT
NEW YORK – September 26, 2022 – After two days and dozens of legendary performances, the twelfth annual iHeartRadio Music Festival hosted by Ryan Seacrest concluded on Saturday evening at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with unforgettable performances over the span of two days by Avril Lavigne, Black Eyed Peas, Halsey, Lionel Richie, LL COOL J feat. DJ Z-Trip, Luke Combs, Maren Morris, Megan Thee Stallion, Morgan Wallen, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Pitbull, Sam Smith, Sean Diddy Combs and The Black Keys.
The iconic weekend-long concert event included the biggest names in music across all genres on the main stage at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the evenings of September 23 and September 24, and at the Daytime Stage at the iHeartRadio Music Festival Saturday afternoon at AREA15, which featured performances by from Avril Lavigne, Maggie Rogers, 5 Seconds of Summer, Big Time Rush, Girl in Red, Lauv, Chlöe, Willow, JAX, Chase Rice, Latto, Carly Pearce, Ryan Hurd, GAYLE and Lauren Spencer-Smith.
Highlights of the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival:
- Pitbull kicked off Friday night dancing his way through his set with fan favorites including "Don't Stop the Party," "Fireball," "Timber," "Give Me Everything," "Can't Stop Us Now" and more.
- Sam Smith surprised the crowd by bringing Kim Petras on stage to perform their new song “Unholy,” which features Kim Petras. Additionally, they captivated the audience with their hits including "Stay," "Latch" and more.
- Lionel Richie brought back 80s nostalgia. Performing in a sequin leather jacket, he took everyone on a trip down memory lane with his fan favorite songs like "Dancing On The Ceiling," "You Are," "Hello," and of course, "All Night Long." The icon also brought the audience to their feet performing his Commodores hit "Brick House.”
- The Black Keys took over the stage at T-Mobile Arena as they delivered fans a performance that included some of their biggest hits, "Howling For You," "Lo-Hi," "Wild Child," "Little Black Submarines," "Lonely Boy" and more.
- Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo got everyone "All Fired Up," showing the crowd why they are being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. The iconic music couple rocked the house as they performed several fan favorites in a career-spanning set, including "All Fired Up," "Promises," "Love Is A Battlefield" and "Heartbreaker."
- Black Eyed Peas showed fans their iconic evolution with a mix of fan favorites, as well as some of their newer songs, like "Let's Get It Started," "Boom Boom Pow," "Mamacita," "Pump It," "Don't You Worry," "Where Is The Love," and closed out with the iconic "I Got A Feeling."
- Morgan Wallen impressed the audience with his piano playing skills by opening his set with an emotional performance of “Sand in My Boots.” He had the crowd cheering throughout the rest of his set as he performed some of his biggest hits like "Wasted On You" and "Whiskey Glasses" and more.
- Diplo closed out night one of the iHeartRadio Music Festival with an energetic set full of dance hits, and he brought out Morgan Wallen to perform their collaboration "Heartless" for the very first time.
- Avril Lavigne opened night two of the iHeartRadio Music Festival by sharing her 20-year-long discography of hits. After performing at the Daytime Stage earlier in the day, Avril kicked off her set on the main stage with one of her biggest hits, "Girlfriend." Avril flashed forward to the present day with “Bite Me.” For her final track, she rocked out to the iconic "Sk8er Boi," which fans passionately sang along to.
- Marcus Mumford celebrated his debut solo album with a passionate performance of "Prior Warning.” He went on to perform "Better Off High," which ebbed and flowed before the driving beat ultimately built up to the song's explosive chorus that got the crowd jumping. He closed his set with an emotional performance of “Better Angels.”
- Luke Combs took the stage and had the whole crowd on their feet. He performed some of his biggest hits, including "Hurricane," "When It Rains It Pours" and "Lovin' On You."
- Sean Diddy Combs kicked things off with "Victory" followed by Biggie's "Juicy" and "Mo Money Mo Problems." Later on, Diddy brought out his son King Combs, who performed his latest single "Can't Stop Won't Stop." Towards the end of his set, he dedicated his performance to those he lost in the past like his late ex Kim Porter, music executive Andre Harrell, Heavy D and the Notorious B.I.G.
- Maren Morris captivated the audience with some of her fan favorites including “Circles” and “The Bones.” Her set also included Ryan Hurd for an adorable husband and wife moment on stage performing “I Can’t Love You Anymore.” She closed her set by taking the whole audience to church. Morris delivered a soulful performance of her 2016 smash-hit “My Church,” earning tons of praise from the T-Mobile arena crowd.
- LL COOL J ft. DJ Z-Trip blew the crowd away with a vibrant mix of his classic hits, including "Rock The Bells," "Jack The Ripper" and "Headsprung." He kept the crowd on their feet by performing "Doin It," "Lougin'" and "Jingalin Baby."
- Halsey came out with staggering stage presence and primed the enthusiastic crowd with "Nightmare" then went on to perform “You Should Be Sad,” “So Good,” “Bad At Love” and more. Turning 28 in a few days, Halsey referred to the festival as their “birthday party.”
- Megan Thee Stallion hit the stage to close out the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival with an electric performance of songs off her new album Traumazine including "Ungrateful" featuring Key Glock, "Her" and "Plan B." She also performed fan favorites like "WAP," "Body," "Thot Sh*t" and "Freak Nasty."
Highlights of the Daytime Stage at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival:
- JAX picked up the action on Saturday when she kicked off the Daytime Stage at the iHeartRadio Music Festival with her single “90s Kid.” She then performed a cover of “Teenage Dirtbag” before ending her set with her hit song “Victoria’s Secret,” which has taken TikTok by storm.
- Lauren Spencer-Smith had an emotional set under the Vegas sun when she ended with her single “Fingers Crossed,” showing off her vocals with the heart wrenching song about lost love.
- Ryan Hurd pumped up the crowd with songs from his debut album, including “Coast,” “Platonic,” “To A T,” “Pass It On,” as well as “Chasing After You,” featuring his wife Maren Morris.
- Girl in Red took the Daytime Stage by storm with hits like “Bad Idea,” “Serotonin” and “I’ll Call You Mine.”
- Cheat Codes brought their energetic set to the crowd when Trevor Dahl hopped off the stage and serenaded fans in the front rows. They performed hit songs like "Lean On Me" and "Pretty Girl" and later “I Remember.”
- GAYLE connected with her fans in the crowd thanks to her smash hit “abcdefu,” even pausing her set to chat with some fans who had traveled across several states to see her perform at the Daytime Stage for the first time. The teenage superstar admitted she was intimidated by following Avril Lavigne, and the two seemed to have hit it off in a sweet picture perfect moment backstage.
- Chase Rice made sure the crowd stayed hydrated as he threw some beers to fans while singing “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.” and kept the party going with several fan favorite songs, including “Ready Set Roll,” “Lonely If You Are,” “Eyes On You” and “Cruise” – the smash-hit that Rice co-wrote and Florida Georgia Line.
- Chlöe turned up the heat with an action-packed set featuring songs like “Have Mercy,” “Do It,” “For the Night” and “Treat Me.” She also brought Cheat Codes back out on stage for a cover of Lumidee's "Never Leave."
- Maggie Rogers rocked out during her set, performing songs like “Shatter,” "Want Want," “That’s Where I Am” and "Be Cool" from her recent sophomore album Surrender and older hits like “Light On” from her debut album. Rogers also kept a careful eye over the crowd in the Vegas heat, reminding fans to take care of one another.
- Carly Pearce kicked off her set with her sassy single “Diamondback” and kept the crowd pumped up with other favorites like “What He Didn’t Do,” “Next Girl,” her duet with Ashley McBride “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” and “I Hope You’re Happy Now.”
- 5 Seconds of Summer rocked the stage to the delight of the crowd, many of whom had stayed in the Vegas sun for hours just to catch their set. They performed their hit songs like "No Shame" and "Easier" and had the crowd screaming along to “She’s So Perfect” – their first-ever hit. They ended their set with their song “Youngblood.”
- Lauv performed hit songs like “I Like Me Better” and got deep with the crowd when he revealed his song “Modern Loneliness” was inspired by his own struggles with feeling lonely before performing it.
- Latto kept the energy up with songs like her hit “Big Energy” and other songs like “B*tch From Da Souf,” “Soufside” and more. She also had a sweet moment with Chloe backstage when both singers realized they were twinning in their stage bodysuits.
- Willow performed the ultimate set at the Daytime Stage, rocking the crowd with hits like “Meet Me At Our Spot” and more. They were also spotted watching earlier sets from the pit with the fans.
- Big Time Rush closed out the Daytime Stage with a dose of nostalgia as they sang iconic hits like “Boyfriend” and “City Is Ours.”
The 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival also featured celebrity appearances including Alexis Mateo and Coco Montrese from RuPaul’s Drag Race, Ben Higgins, Bethany Joy Lenz, Drew Sidora, Dixie D'Amelio, Hayley Kiyoko, Hilarie Burton, JAX, Jennie Garth, Kristin Cavallari, Kyle Richards, Lance Bass, Leslie Jones, Lisa Ann Walter and Sheryl Lee Ralph from Abbott Elementary, Sophia Bush, Teddi Mellencamp, The Miz and Tori Spelling.
The CW exclusively livestreamed both nights of the festival via The CW app and CWTV.com. The CW Network will broadcast a two-night television special on Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8 from 8 – 10 p.m. ET/PT. Fans streamed the Daytime Stage at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival on iHeartRadio’s Facebook and YouTube.
Immediately following both nights of the iHeartRadio Music Festival, the official Post Show Presented by M&M’s aired live on iHeartRadio’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. Hosted by Maxwell & Crystal Rosas of Z100 New York, they covered the biggest moments of each night. Fans not in attendance can scroll through #iHeartFestival2022 to see tweets and retweets from fans as well as artists and Festival presenters.
Proud partners of this year's event include Arrowhead® Brand 100% Mountain Spring Water, Audible - The home of storytelling, Capital One, Coors Light, The CW, Famous Footwear, The Hartford Small Business Insurance, Hyundai, M&M's®, T-Mobile and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
The iHeartRadio Music Festival is co-produced by John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises and Tom Poleman, Chief Programming Officer for iHeartMedia. For more details about the iHeartRadio Music Festival visit iHeartRadio.com/festival.
To access photos and b-roll from the event please visit:
Photo credits: Credits can be found in the filename e.g. Greg Noire for iHeartRadio. Use guide HERE.
PW: iHRMF22_BestOf!!
2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Best Of Night One (September 23) https://iheartradio.photoshelter.com/galleries/C0000nFCXQvrCo38/G0000eNTHwljUyX4/Night-One-Best-Of
2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Best Of Night Two (September 24)
https://iheartradio.photoshelter.com/galleries/C0000nFCXQvrCo38/G0000Nd4qCevIgBY/Night-Two-Best-Of
2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Best Of Daytime Stage (September 24)
https://iheartradio.photoshelter.com/galleries/C0000FJBHLOUbOs4/G0000wEwFXIezU.U/2022-DTS-Best-Of
2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Backstage
https://dam.gettyimages.com/assignments/2022-iheartradio-music-festival-backstage
2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Broadcast
https://dam.gettyimages.com/assignments/2022-iheartradio-music-festival-broadcast
2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Press Room
https://dam.gettyimages.com/assignments/2022-iheartradio-music-festival-press-room
2022 Daytime Stage At The iHeartRadio Music Festival (September 24)
https://dam.gettyimages.com/assignments/2022-daytime-stage-at-iheartradio-music-festival
To access b-roll from this event please visit:
2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival:
2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Daytime Stage (September 24):
