Jay Z, Dead & Co., Chance the Rapper and the Black Keys will headline Woodstock 50, the upcoming festival celebrating the original’s five-decade anniversary, Variety reports. As of this writing, the lineup has not been officially announced.
Jack White’s recently revamped Raconteurs, Imagine Dragons, Run the Jewels, Gary Clark Jr., Cage the Elephant, the Killers, Greta Van Fleet, Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson, Courtney Barnett, Portugal. The Man, Dawes, the Lumineers, Pussy Riot, Dorothy and Bishop Briggs will also perform at the event, scheduled for August 16th through 18th in Watkins Glen, New York.
Miley Cyrus, Janelle Monáe, Kacey Musgraves, Halsey are also reportedly finalizing their commitments.
“We are thrilled with all the excitement about Woodstock 50, but we have an obligation to our fans, artists and partners, to do things the right way,” festival organizer Michael Lang said in an e-mail statement. “We are in the final stages of laying the groundwork and can’t wait to stage this once-in-a-lifetime event. We’ll be officially announcing the lineup and ticket on-sale soon, stay tuned!”
Given the Woodstock brand, the lineup thus far is curiously slanted toward modern artists. However, Variety reported that Robert Plant and Santana, two acts who were actually alive and performing in 1969, are in the mix for the revamped fest.
Santana — who played one of the most iconic sets at the original Woodstock — are also scheduled for the competing Bethel Woods Music and Culture Festival alongside Arlo Guthrie, Ringo Starr, Edgar Winter and the Doobie Brothers. That event takes place between August 16th and 18th at the original site in Bethel, New York.
“It’ll be an eclectic bill,” Lang told Rolling Stone of Woodstock 50. “It’ll be hip-hop and rock and some pop and some of the legacy bands from the original festival … I want it to be multi-generational. Woodstock ’94 was a nice mix of young and old and that’s kind of what we’re going for here.”
Reports circled on Monday that Woodstock 50 was facing financial strain, but representatives for the event told Billboard that all artists have been paid as of that evening. “There’s always been lots of rumors around Woodstock,” Lang said. “We have excellent partners and an incredible talent lineup of over 80 artists which will be announced within the next couple of weeks. We’re preparing a once in a lifetime event.”