Austin’s widely anticipated Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) 2024 lineup is set to release Tuesday, May 7 at 9 a.m. The lineup will consist of a list of 100+ artists who will be performing – ranging from famous headliners to small local bands. As the release approaches, eager fans of the festival debate which of their favorite artists they will get the opportunity to see live. Like many others, I always make my annual list of predictions for ACL and I have gotten artists right in years past so I hope my guesses will be accurate for the 2024 lineup.
A key characteristic of ACL’s lineup is the throwback band – a renowned band that our parents likely listened to when they were our age. Last year this was Foo Fighters, in 2022 it was Red Hot Chili Peppers, and so on. For this year, my instincts are telling me that the throwback band could be Pearl Jam, an influential ‘90s rock band. My alternative guess to Pearl Jam would be Deftones, an alternative metal band formed in the ‘90s, due to its recent popularity on social media platforms.
The next characteristic of the lineup headliners is the rap genre. Typically this will include a male and female rapper, one more popular than the other. For instance, the 2019 lineup had Cardi B as well as 21 Savage. This year, I predict that the male rapper could be either Future or Metro Boomin due to their new joint album We Don’t Trust You. Next, I think a possible female rapper could be Ice Spice or Sexyy Red, as they are newly emerged artists that have become very popular in the past year.
I am unfamiliar with the modern pop genre, however I have a random array of guesses due to conversations I have had with peers. I think that the main pop artist for this year could be Dua Lipa, as she has had a strong influence over the pop genre for many years now. Some smaller artists I predict to perform are Sabrina Carpenter, Reneé Rapp, and Dominic Fike also due to their recent traction in social media.
Lastly, country is a genre that I am entirely unfamiliar with, but after conversing with avid country listeners, there seems to be a consensus that Zach Bryan may be the headliner for 2024. Bryan has been recently popularized through TikTok and attracted a large fanbase.
The 2024 lineup releases in less than 24 hours, so my predictions will soon be proven entirely false or slightly true. Either way, many Austin residents and people from around the world look forward to this event and plan to attend in the fall.
