Billy Corgan brought out Olivia Rodrigo and Yungblud during Smashing Pumpkins' Lollapalooza headline set on Friday night at Grant Park in Chicago, turning the band's long-awaited return to the festival into a showcase spanning three generations of alternative music.
According to Billboard, the set was the Chicago-bred band's first Lollapalooza headlining slot in 32 years. They last played the festival in 1994 during its original touring incarnation, on a bill that included the Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest and Green Day. Corgan, a lifelong Chicagoan, spent the week leading up to the show staging what he called "Pumpkinpalooza," which included a sold-out show at the 2,500-capacity Riviera Theatre, a merchandise pop-up near Grant Park, and a roving version of Madame Zuzu's, the teahouse he owns with wife Chloé Mendel.
Yungblud arrived onstage first, less than an hour after finishing his own festival set. He sang "Luna," the closing track from the band's 1993 breakthrough album Siamese Dream. The British rocker, dressed in black to match Corgan, handled the song's soaring falsetto while Corgan backed him on guitar. "This is a f—ing dream come true," Yungblud told the crowd.
Rodrigo followed, introduced by Corgan as "a very, very special guest." She appeared in a sheer dress and knee-high stockings to perform "Thirty-Three," the fifth single from the band's 1995 double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Corgan switched to acoustic guitar and the stage was bathed in red light for the performance.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness remains the band's commercial high point. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1995 with 246,500 first-week units, the only Pumpkins album to ever top the chart, and was certified diamond by the RIAA for sales exceeding 10 million copies. The album earned seven Grammy nominations, and "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" won the 1997 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Rodrigo's credentials matched the occasion. Her 2021 debut SOUR and its 2023 follow-up GUTS both entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1. She has scored multiple Hot 100 chart-toppers, including "Drivers License," "Good 4 U" and "Vampire." Yungblud won his first Grammy earlier this year, for Best Rock Performance, for his rendition of "Changes" at Ozzy Osbourne's farewell Black Sabbath concert. His Aerosmith collaboration EP One More Time reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 in November.
Elsewhere on Friday, Lil Uzi Vert's scheduled Lollapalooza set was canceled due to weather. Lollapalooza's official statement attributed the cancellation to "weather issues," and NBC Chicago reported it was tied to heavy rain and stormy conditions that swept the area throughout the day. Zara Larsson was moved up to fill the slot. Hours after the cancellation, on their 31st birthday, Uzi released a surprise eight-track EP called Maverick "Almost Forever," their first release in two years. The cover art depicts a young Uzi alongside their grandmother. The drop fell exactly a decade after Uzi released The Perfect LUV Tape on July 31, 2016, which debuted at No. 55 on the Billboard 200 and has since been certified gold by the RIAA.
Lollapalooza 2026 continues through August 2 at Grant Park.
