The Austin City Limits Music Festival lineup is expected to be released early next month, and the guessing game is already well underway. Early signs point to a mix of pop headliners, Latin superstars and more.
Using recent tour schedules, festival appearances and past ties to Austin, we’ve identified a shortlist of artists who appear well-positioned to land on the 2026 bill. Last year, we correctly predicted Doechii, Sabrina Carpenter and The Dare.
Our methodology is part pattern recognition, part industry timing. We looked at who’s playing major festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo. We paid close attention to the Lollapaloozas — produced by Austin-based C3 Presents, the company behind ACL Fest — as well as who’s touring through Texas and who has a track record with ACL.
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We rated each artist’s likelihood using a five-microphone scale, with five signaling a near lock and one a long shot.
Amyl and the Sniffers
Amy Taylor of Amyl and the Sniffers performs at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 13, 2025 in Indio, California.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
Amyl and the Sniffers are a shoo-in. The Australian rock group is at peak cultural zeitgeist after the release of their third album, “Cartoon Darkness,” on Oct. 25. Despite an Atlanta booking on Oct. 4, they could come for both Fridays (Oct. 2 and 9). Amyl and the Sniffers first made waves in Austin during South by Southwest in 2019 and at Levitation Fest in 2023. They came to town twice in 2025, first to Stubb’s and then to support Turnstile at Waterloo Park. If this pans out, imagine the Amy Taylor outfit possibilities. — Mars Salazar
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Likelihood: 🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤
Charli XCX
Charli XCX performs at Glastonbury Festival on June 28, 2025 in Glastonbury, England.
Harry Durrant/Getty Images
Charli XCX performed in Austin during her “Brat” era in 2024. Since then, she’s expanded her hyperpop universe with the satirical concert film “The Moment,” leaning even further into the self-aware spectacle that defines her shows. An ACL performance would bring a dance-fueled set and the possibility of surprise guests. She is headlining Lollapalooza in Chicago this summer after releasing the Wuthering Heights soundtrack. — Ana Gutierrez
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Likelihood: 🎤🎤🎤🎤
Foo Fighters
Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters performs at Austin City Limits Music Festival on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 in Austin.
Jay Janner/American-Statesman
Foo Fighters have a suspicious ACL Fest-shaped hole between two legs of their “Take Cover Tour.” Dave Grohl and company are playing a series of international dates for their April 24 album, “Your Favorite Toy,” including a show in Liverpool with Austin’s Die Spitz. In between the tour stops, Foo Fighters are also scheduled for seven festivals. None of them are affiliated with C3 Presents. There is a possibility the band could tack on Austin after their Queens of the Stone Age run in Las Vegas on Sept. 26 and before they head over to Australia in November, but they have played the festival three times, most recently in 2023. — M.S.
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Geese
Cameron Winter of GEESE performs at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 11, 2026 in Indio, California.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
If Geese isn’t on the ACL Fest lineup this year, I need to find a new job. The Brooklyn-based four-piece has been booking nearly every festival under the sun since the band and lead singer, Cameron Winter, exploded in popularity last year. They put out their fourth album, “Getting Killed,” in September. Geese will be playing more than 25 fests around the world this year, including: Coachella, Governors Ball, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, Primavera Sound, Reading, Leeds and Shakey Knees. Honestly it would just be sloppy if they didn’t show up at ACL Fest. — M.S.
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Likelihood: 🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤
HorsegiirL
German musician-DJ HorsegiirL performs at Lollapalooza Music Festival on March 20, 2026 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Miguel Schincariol/Getty Images
HorsegiirL performs in a hyper-realistic horse mask and sits at the center of a growing European rave scene that blends internet culture with hard dance music. Festivals have increasingly embraced that kind of theatrical club energy, and ACL’s electronic stages could easily make room for it. Following her set at Lollapalooza this year, her tour dates leave a space for a potential appearance at Zilker Park. — A.G.
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Kacey Musgraves
Kacey Musgraves performs at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on April 25, 2025 in New Orleans.
Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images
If “Dry Spell” tells us anything about Kacey Musgraves’ new album, it’s that she’s entering a new era.The country singer is exchanging romantic yearning for a look into a single woman’s life. Musgraves last headlined ACL back in 2022, and we’d be happy to hear “Golden Hour” as the sun sets on Zilker. — A.G.
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Karol G
Karol G performs at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 12, 2026 in Indio, California.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
The reggaetonera has been on a roll following the release of her 2025 album “Tropicoqueta.” She became the first woman to headline Coachella this month, bringing dancers and spectacle to the stage. Karol G last played ACL in 2021 and played the Moody Center in 2022 for her Mañana Será Bonito tour. Like her ex-beau Feid’s set last year, we expect tons of Colombian flags in the crowd if she performs. — A.G.
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Lily Allen
Lily Allen performs at Auditorium Theatre on April 3, 2026 in Chicago.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
The London-born singer — who has been in the public eye for a messy divorce from “Stranger Things” star David Harbour — could make a stop in Austin. While she isn’t playing many festivals and is focused on her international arena tour, she has some space for both weekends of ACL Fest after her last U.S. gig in Los Angeles on Sept. 25 and before her first show around Australia on Oct. 21. Allen’s first album in seven years, “West End Girl,” went viral after its October release for revealing scathing details about her husband’s infidelity. She last played ACL Fest in 2018, and I’d love to see her come back to drop a “drama bomb.” — M.S.
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Lorde
Lorde performs at Glastonbury Festival on June 27, 2025 in Glastonbury, England.
Joseph Okpako/Getty Images
Lorde is slated to play around 30 festivals in 2026, and ACL Fest is probably going to be one of them. The New Zealand-born singer is also playing ACL’s sister festival Lollapalooza in Chicago. She’s already made stops at Lollapalooza Chile and Lollapalooza Brazil, and she has Lollapalooza Berlin and The Governors Ball in New York City, another C3 Presents fest, on her roster. Her last Austin show was at Moody Center in September for her fourth album, “Virgin” (2025). — M.S.
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Likelihood: 🎤🎤🎤🎤
Not for Radio
Maria Zardoya of Not for Radio performs at Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on April 10, 2026 in Indio, California.
Katie Flores/Getty Images
María Zardoya is already familiar to ACL audiences as the frontwoman of The Marías, who have played the festival before. Her solo project leans in a different direction, more experimental and stripped-back. The project skipped Austin on its debut tour, making a festival slot a plausible way to introduce the material to local fans. She is set to play Lollapalooza after performing at Coachella earlier this month. — A.G.
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Skrillex
Skrillex performs at Lollapalooza on Aug. 3, 2024 in Chicago.
Natasha Moustache/Getty Images
I’m putting money on Skrillex as ACL Fest’s electronic music headliner this year. The DJ played Lollapalooza in Argentina, Chile and Brazil, and he is also opening the C3-produced Tennessee music festival Bonnaroo in June. His gig at SoCal’s Head Trip fest on Sunday, Oct. 11, leaves him open to play both Fridays in Austin. His latest album, “(EXPLETIVE) U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3,” dropped last year on April Fools’ Day. — M.S.
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Likelihood: 🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤
The Smashing Pumpkins
Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins performs at Parco della Musica di Milano on July 30, 2025 in Milan, Italy.
Francesco Prandoni/Getty Images
Alt-rock vet Billy Corgan’s band may not be touring in 2026, but I don’t think the chances that they’re this year’s rock headliner are “Zero.” The group is headlining Lollapalooza in their hometown of Chicago in early August, before they play SoCal’s Darker Waves in November, which makes Austin the perfect midpoint for a festival trifecta. Corgan also made his Coachella debut as Sombr’s onstage guest for a cover of “1979” last week, a song from the Pumpkins’ 1995 hit album “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” that turned 30 in 2025. — M.S.
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Likelihood: 🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤
Turnstile
Brendan Yates of Turnstile performs at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 10, 2026 in Indio, California.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Just like Geese, Turnstile exploded in popularity during 2025 and are riding the momentum of that hype to major music festivals including Coachella, Lollapalooza (Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Chicago), Bonnaroo, Outside Lands and Shaky Knees. The band, originally from Baltimore, also won two Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album for their 2025 LP “Never Enough” and Best Metal Performance in February. If singer Brendan Yates is willing to stage dive during a NPR Tiny Desk Concert, imagine what he could have in store for ACL Fest. — M.S.
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Likelihood:🎤🎤🎤🎤
Twenty One Pilots
Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots perform at iHeartRadio ALTer EGO on Jan. 17, 2026 in Los Angeles.
Gilbert Flores/Getty Images
Twenty One Pilots will be playing 19 festivals this summer, closing the run with Atlanta’s Shakey Knees and Ocean’s Calling in Maryland — both C3 Presents operations — in late September. I can almost guarantee Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun will rock ACL Fest right after. The duo just released a new album, “Breach,” in September and last played the festival in 2015. Joseph made a big impression, climbing the stage’s towering scaffolding to three stories above the crowd during their performance. I’m surprised they weren’t banned! — M.S.
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Likelihood: 🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤
Wolf Alice
Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice performs at The 3Arena Dublin on Dec. 10, 2025 in Dublin, Ireland.
Kieran Frost/Getty Images
Wolf Alice has blossomed in the last couple years. They could have easily fallen into the indie band rut of producing a few recognizable songs early on — their biggest hits “Don’t Delete the Kisses,” “Moaning Lisa Smile” and “Bros” were released in 2015 and 2017 — and then disappearing. But they successfully reinvented their aesthetic to connect with a mid-2020’s social media audience. They’re confirmed at over 15 festivals this year, including Lollapalooza and Shakey Knees, with an opening to play in Austin before heading to Japan and Australia. They last played ACL Fest in 2015. Fingers are crossed! — M.S.
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Likelihood: 🎤🎤🎤🎤
Other artists who might perform at ACL Fest 2026
Addison Rae performs at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 11, 2026 in Indio, California.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Addison Rae (🎤🎤🎤)
Death Cab for Cutie (🎤🎤)
Ed Sheeran (🎤🎤🎤)
Fontaines D.C. (🎤🎤🎤)
Moby (🎤🎤🎤🎤)
PinkPantheress (🎤🎤🎤🎤)
Red Hot Chili Peppers (🎤🎤🎤🎤)
Sean Paul (🎤🎤🎤)
The Chainsmokers (🎤)
The XX (🎤)