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Apple Music Festival to feature Elton John, Alicia Keys, Chance the Rapper, others

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Apple on Thursday announced the full lineup of its upcoming Apple Music Festival slated to kick off on Sept. 18 in London, where music industry icons like Elton John and Alicia Keys will take the stage at the historic Roundhouse theater with up and coming stars including Chance the Rapper and The 1975.

For the festival's 10th anniversary, Apple managed to sign headliners Alicia Keys, Bastille, Britney Spears, Calvin Harris, Chance The Rapper, Elton John, Michael Bublé, OneRepublic, Robbie Williams and The 1975, the company said. The festival's official webpage was subsequently updated with a full set list and promo video.

As promised earlier this week, London-based Beats 1 DJ Julie Adenuga announced the full lineup live on air today. Headlining artists shared their thoughts on being invited to attend in a follow-up press release.

"Over the past decade, the Festival has brought the biggest and best artists from all over the world to London and into the homes of millions of music fans," said Oliver Schusser, Apple VP of International Content. "This year's Apple Music Festival builds on that incredible legacy and we couldn't be more excited to have another amazing lineup to celebrate our 10th birthday."

Similar to a tie-in with Apple Music at last year's festival, Apple will be offering special Apple Music Festival playlists, artist news and backstage interviews through its subscription streaming music service. The special content is set to run throughout September. In addition, Apple Music members in 100 countries can watch all ten nights of performances live and on-demand on their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, Apple TV and Android phones.

As usual, tickets will not be sold for the annual event. Fans based in the UK must apply to win passes in prize drawings on Apple Music and through other media partners.

Elton John will kick the Apple Music Festival off on Sept. 18, while Chance the Rapper, who in May debuted his new album "Coloring Book" as an Apple Music exclusive, will close the event on Sept. 30.



3 Comments

lolliver 10 Years · 498 comments

Interesting that it looks like only MUSIC subscribers will have access to stream it this year. That makes sense. I wonder if they will have any of the shows available outside of MUSIC or if it will all be for subscribers only. 

xbit 9 Years · 399 comments

It's worth noting that Apple hand out lots of comp tickets for these events. If you're a developer, talk to your developer relations contact. They'll probably throw some tickets your way without you having to go through the lottery.

frac 14 Years · 480 comments

Well I've selected Elton John as one of my lottery choices...can't think why except I'm his era and have never seen him live. How he keeps going I don't know...
I've managed to get tickets most years and seen some amazing acts - Amy Winehouse at the ICA (first iTunes Music Festival in 2007) was unforgettable, almost terrifyingly so.