Reading & Leeds 2022 line-up revealed with six massive headliners

NME

The first wave of acts for Reading & Leeds 2022 has been revealed, with Arctic Monkeys, Bring Me The Horizon, Halsey, Dave, Megan Thee Stallion and Rage Against The Machine all confirmed to headline. Check out the full line-up so far and ticket details below.

After a triumphant return from a pandemic hiatus this summer with headline sets from Liam Gallagher, Post Malone, Stormzy, Disclosure, Biffy Clyro and Catfish + The Bottlemen, alongside the likes of Slowthai, Wolf Alice, Sigrid, Baebadoobee, Yungblud, AJ Tracey, Girl In Red and many more, R+L has announced a huge billing for the twin-site festival at Little John’s Farm in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds in 2022.

After utilising the two main stages for the first time last year, fans can expect the same again – with six headliners revealed today. Among them, Arctic Monkeys will be returning to the hallowed fields of Reading & Leeds next August Bank Holiday Weekend (August 26-28). Having been slowly announcing European tour dates and world festival shows over the past few weeks, the Sheffield indie icons will now be headlining R+L for the third time – with their highly anticipated follow-up to 2018 album ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino‘ tipped to be coming next year.

They’ll be co-headlining the Saturday in Reading and the Sunday in Leeds with fellow Yorkshiremen Bring Me The Horizon – who are stepping up to top the bill for the very first time.

“We’re gonna go hard,” frontman Oli Sykes told NME. “We’ll make sure it’s insane. I’ve always said that we’d play it when we’ve earned it, and it’s finally come. We have the songs, we have the bangers, and we might not be a household name but I know that we can put on a show that’s festival-headline quality.”

Check out our full interview with Sykes on what to expect here.

After joining Stormzy for his epic set last year, Dave will be following up the huge success of his acclaimed second album ‘We’re All Alone In This Together Now‘ and his biggest shows to date on his 2022 arena tour to headline the main stage on the Friday of Reading and the Saturday of Leeds. He’ll be sharing the top of the bill that day with mutli-Grammy-winning, US rap megastar and previous NME cover star Megan Thee Stallion, with the ‘WAP’ chart-topper expected to arrive with more new material next year following her recent run of huge freestyle and archive releases.

Meanwhile, the Sunday of Reading and Friday of Leeds will see the long-awaited return of Rage Against The Machine. The rock legends have a long and celebrated past with the festival, with their last politically-charged headline set in 2008 going down in history. Having had their last planned appearance in 2020 shelved due to the pandemic, the reunited RATM will be back to make more headlines with another night to remember in August.

They’ll be sharing the top of the bill that day with recent cover star Halsey, who was also announced last month as the recipient of the Innovation Award at the upcoming 2022 BandLab NME Awards. The New Jersey-born singer, who released her fourth album ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ this summer, will pick up the prize during a ceremony at the O2 Academy Brixton in London on March 2.

“It’s really, really awesome – I think you start to get really sad and nervous about how your music connects when you’re not around to bring it to life and to know that it’s still resonating is really, really cool,” she told NME.

More big names to dominate the rest of the line-up include Polo G, Little Simz, Circa Waves, Griff, Fever 333, Wolf Alice, Fontaines D.C., Jack Harlow, Enter Shikari, Madison Beer, Run The Jewels, Måneskin, and Bastille. Check out the full poster and the full list of names for the line-up so far below.

Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Festival Republic said: “With so many amazing acts set to play, Reading & Leeds is set to return as the ultimate festival weekend of the summer: defining the sounds of modern ground breaking music. I cannot wait!”

Reading & Leeds Festival 2022 will take place from August 26-28. Tickets are on sale from 9am on Friday December 10 and will be available here for Reading Festival and here for Leeds Festival.

The full line-up for Reading & Leeds 2022 so far is:

Arctic Monkeys
Arrdee
Bastille
Bring Me the Horizon
Circa Waves
Chloe Moriondo
Dave
Denzel Curry
Fever 333
Fontaines D.C.
Glass Animals
Griff
Halsey
Hybrid Minds
Jack Harlow
Joy Crookes
Jxdn
Kid Brunswick
Little Simz
Megan Thee Stallion
Madison Beer
Måneskin
Pale Waves
Pink Pantheress
Polo G
Rage Against The Machine
Run The Jewels
Tai Verdes
Wallows
Wilkinson
Wolf Alice

In an interview with NME on the final day of R+L 2021, organiser Melvin Benn told us about the success of opening up the festival sites with two main stages and six headliners – and why they plan on doing it again for years to come.

“It wasn’t a COVID measure, it was something I’ve been doing with Lollapalooza in Berlin,” said Benn. “I liked the way works so I wanted to give it a go here. It gives us the chance to present six headliners. That’s better for the fans.

“We wouldn’t have room for all those acts if the other stage had been in a tent because they’re too big to play it. For me, it’s absolutely fantastic and having six headliners is better for the fans.”

Speaking of the evolution of the line-up, he added: “We started as a rock festival but we didn’t stay there. We will always intend to be relevant to an incredible audience. We don’t rest on our laurels, we don’t book for the sake of booking, we book for the sake of what works for our audience. The direction moves wherever music goes.”

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