UPDATE 3/7/19: A new report on Woodstock developments from Varietyadds in a few more names including Run the Jewels, Margo Price, Pussy Riot, Bishop Briggs, Kacey Musgraves, The Raconteurs, and more. This latest update on lineup whisperings also speaks even more definitively about previously rumored headliners like JAY-Z and Chance the Rapper, though it's wise to keep in mind that none of this has been made official just yet. Stay tuned.
See original story from 3/6/19 below.
Woodstock is rightfully marking its fiftieth anniversary in the best possible way, having recently announced a revival of sorts of the original 1969 experience. In the wake of recent reports suggesting organizers were hitting some logistical and financial hurdles ahead of a scheduled three-day music and arts fair in August, a possible (if not outright probable) lineup is starting to take shape.
The latest rumblings from Hits Daily Double allege that Woodstock 50 headliners will include JAY-Z, Chance the Rapper, Miley Cyrus, Halsey, The Killers, Dead & Company, The Black Keys, Santana, and Imagine Dragons (???). A separate Billboard report states definitively that five of those artists—Chance, Killers, Santana, Dead, and those Dragons—"will be performing" at the Watkins Glen International Speedway-set throwdown.
As for those purported logistical and financial concerns, organizers said Monday that multiple top talent agencies had been wired "several million dollars" for performing artists. "We have excellent partners and an incredible talent lineup of over 80 artists which will be announced within the next couple of weeks," Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang toldVariety. "We're preparing a once in a lifetime event."
When formally announcing Woodstock 50 back in January, Lang promised an "eclectic" lineup that will touch on "hip-hop and rock and some pop," as well as legacy artists from the inaugural 1969 edition.
Woodstock's previous 25th anniversary celebration at Winston Farm in 1994 can probably provide some insight into just how potentially awesome this new iteration will be, complete with hundreds of thousands of attendees. As some quick YouTubing will reveal, a pivotal moment of the 25th year commemoration revolved around a full-blown mud battle between Green Day and an understandably hyped-up audience:
