As Lollapalooza celebrates its 30th anniversary, long gone are the lineups of yesteryears packed with names like Temple of the Dog, Pixies, and Billy Idol. Leave it to Miley Cyrus, rock music’s cover song queen, to bring some of that music to Chicago’s Grant Park during her headlining set on Thursday evening.
As Consequence News Editor Wren Graves noted in our day one coverage of Lollapalooza, “never cease with Miley Cyrus, who has matured alongside her audience and become one of the most exciting acts in music today.” Cyrus kicked off her Lolla set with a medley of “We Can’t Stop” and Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?”. Just a few songs later, she brought out Billy Idol to perform their Plastic Hearts collaboration “Night Crawling” in addition to his own seminal hit, “White Wedding.”
As the set continued on, the surprise covers kept on coming. Cyrus sang Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” and Cher’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” before rewinding the clock to Lollapalooza 1992 with a cover of Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike.” She immediately followed up that grunge classic with a medley of “Wrecking Ball” and Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
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Cyrus did leave room for some of her own music, dusting off “SMS (Bangerz)” for the first time since 2014. It had been even longer — 10 years, to be exact — since she last sang “7 Things” live, but that changed last night mid-way through her Lollapalooza set. She also brought out G Herbo for “Love Money Party,” The Kid Laroi for “Without You,” and Wiz Khalifa and Juicy J for “23.”
Watch fan-captured footage of Cyrus’ performance below, and find our full coverage of Lollapalooza’s first day here.
Setlist:
We Can’t Stop
Where Is My Mind? (Pixies cover)
WTF Do I Know (Live debut)
Plastic Hearts
Night Crawling (with Billy Idol)
White Wedding (Billy Idol cover) (with Billy Idol)
Heart of Glass (Blondie cover)
SMS (Bangerz) (First time since 2014)
Dooo It!
Love Money Party (with G Herbo)
23 (Mike WiLL Made‐It cover) (with Wiz Khalifa & Juicy J)
Malibu (Remix)
Nothing Breaks Like a Heart (Mark Ronson cover) (Remix)
Slide Away
7 Things (First time since 2011)
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (Cher cover)
See You Again
WITHOUT YOU (The Kid LAROI cover) (with The Kid LAROI)
Midnight Sky
The Climb
Angels Like You
Say Hello 2 Heaven (Temple of the Dog cover)
Nothing Compares 2 U (Sinéad O’Connor cover)
Wrecking Ball
Can’t Be Tamed
Party in the U.S.A.
