Here’s Some of Our Favorite Moments From The 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival
The 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival has officially come to a close, and we’d like to share some of our favorite moments from this weekend.
The iHeartRadio Music Festival debuted eight years ago and has easily become one of the most celebrated music events of the year, accumulating over a billion app downloads and 120 million registered users. Ryan Seacrest hosted the weekend-long concert that took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, welcoming performers like Justin Timberlake, Fleetwood Mac, Carrie Underwood, Mariah Carey, Imagine Dragons, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Panic! At The Disco, Kelly Clarkson, Shawn Mendes, Kygo, Rae Sremmurd, Logic, and Childish Gambino, to name a few.
Here are the highlights.
- On the anniversary of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting, Jason Aldean and Bobby Bones honored all the heroic figures who risked their lives to help survivors, including police officers, firefighters, and first responders, and even welcomed them onto the main stage during the first night.
Never hurts to go a lil’ country every now and again 😉🤠@Jason_Aldean #iHeartFestival pic.twitter.com/IyKHKKfLP7
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) September 23, 2018
- Mariah Carey performed a medley of all of her famous hits including “Always Be My Baby,” “Shake It Off,” “#Beautiful,” “Emotions,” “Honey,” and her newest single “GTFO,” for the first time ever on stage.
Thank you for having me @iheartradio! I enjoyed ya 😘 #iHeartFestival pic.twitter.com/irZeNDRDHf
— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) September 22, 2018
- Childish Gambino took the stage and performed some of his latest tunes, giving his fans a farewell performance.
And now…a scholarly analysis of @DonaldGlover‘s #iHeartFestival dance moves 🧐 #iHeartFestival pic.twitter.com/yx48NGsNhz
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) September 23, 2018
- Kygo closed the first night with a mind-blowing set featuring surprise appearances from Sandro Cavazza, Miguel and Conrad Sewell. Justin Jesso also later joined him on stage to perform the unreleased song, “Happy Now.”
🎉 @Miguel performing with @KygoMusic was one of our fave #iHeartFestival surprises! 🎉
What was yours 🤔? pic.twitter.com/nCe6lV5e9R
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) September 23, 2018
- Justin Timberlake opened night two showcasing songs from his new album like “Say Something” and “Filthy” and older hits like “Sexy Back,” and “Cry Me A River.” The crowd later erupted in cheers when he welcomed surprise guest, Shawn Mendes for a duet of “What Goes Around.” Mendes later performed a full set-list of his own.
Justin Timberlake kicked off night 2 of the #iHeartFestival and had the whole crowd on their feet dancing. But the screams were by far the loudest when he surprised everyone and brought out Shawn Mendes to perform “What Goes Around (Comes Around)’ with him! @drinkbai #FlavorLife pic.twitter.com/OJEWV94sG8
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) September 23, 2018
- Carrie Underwood and her growing baby bump took to the stage performing a combination of newer and older hits. After performing “Last Name,” Underwood hilariously said, “My baby was kicking during that one. My baby likes you guys.”
.@carrieunderwood‘s baby was kicking during the show and we can’t even! https://t.co/ay2IvagN96 pic.twitter.com/86opoxYYjw
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) September 23, 2018
- Kelly Clarkson paid a beautiful tribute to the late Aretha Franklin by performing “Respect,” which also happened to be one of the songs she performed on the finale of her season on American Idol.
Kelly Clarkson paid tribute to Aretha Franklin with a special performance of “Respect” at the #iHeartFestival, marking the first time she’s done the song since it helped launch her career on “American Idol.” @drinkbai #FlavorLife pic.twitter.com/fzbRrygE99
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) September 23, 2018
- Imagine Dragons also paid tribute to the victims of the Route 91 Harvest Festival and proposed a toast to the city of Las Vegas.
Las Vegas’ own Imagine Dragons made everyone in the crowd a believer with a powerful performance to close their #iHeartFestival set. Dan Reynolds might be the only rockstar who can pull off gym shorts as stage wear and make it look cool! @drinkbai #FlavorLife pic.twitter.com/PIDT0c52sv
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) September 23, 2018
- Lastly, Logic closed out night two of this star-studded 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival with hits like “44 More,” “Everybody,” and “1-800-273-8255.” OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder later joined him onstage to perform their recently released collaboration, “One Day.”
Love everything about @Logic301 & @ryantedder‘s bromance! #iHeartFestival https://t.co/bJHhJgY3EU pic.twitter.com/JglUj9FwAs
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) September 24, 2018
Well, folks, that’s a wrap on this year’s iHeartRadio Musical Festival. If you didn’t get the chance to attend the event, the CW has graciously recorded both nights of the festival and will broadcast a two-night television special on October 7 and October 8 from 8 p.m. – 10 p.m. EST/PST.