Navy Pier today announced that Jeff Tweedy, lead vocalist and guitarist for Wilco, will headline this September’s Chicago Live! performing arts festival at the Pier. The Illinois native applauded as one of contemporary music’s most accomplished songwriters, musicians, and performers, will treat fans to a rare solo acoustical set on Saturday, Sept. 21, the first evening of the free, two-day festival.
Raised in Belleville, Ill., the teenaged Tweedy cofounded the legendary alt-country band Uncle Tupelo, which released four albums and inspired the careers of countless Americana bands. By 1994, Tweedy had formed Wilco, his own band, which has gone on to release 13 (and counting) studio albums and toured continuously for over 30 years. Tweedy now resides with his family in Chicago and pursues a diverse slate of solo projects, including authoring three New York Times charting books.
Wilco has collected numerous industry awards including two recent Grammys for the 20th anniversary reissue box set of its iconic Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album. Having just completed sold-out tours with Wilco in Japan, Australia, and North America, Tweedy’s Navy Pier performance will be his only solo concert in the Chicago area this summer.
“Chicago’s lakefront is one of my favorite places on earth and I’ll jump at any opportunity to play on its shores,” said Tweedy.
“Jeff Tweedy’s songs have been reaching fans across multiple genres for decades in ways that are both deeply personal and collectively shared,” said Arnie Rivera, Chief Administrative and Equity Officer for Navy Pier. “As a person and a performer, he embodies the spirit and inclusivity of Chicago Live! and we could not be more delighted to welcome him to this year’s festival.”
Slated for Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22, this year’s fourth annual Chicago Live! will be the largest to-date, welcoming more than 100 Chicago-grown performing groups in back-to-back performances across five Pier stages. Featured artists range from Chicago’s world-class stalwarts, including The Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Second City, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Chicago Philharmonic, Black Ensemble Theater, and the perennially popular Blue Man Group, to pop culture icons like RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Ginger Minj, Tony-nominated Felicia Fields, The Voice’s Oliv Blu, and many exciting up-and-comers. More than 50,000 Chicago-area residents and out-of-town guests are expected to take in free Chicago Live! performances throughout the two-day festival.
Supported by the Pritzker Foundation and Peoples Gas, Chicago Live! was launched in 2021, following the pandemic, to reconnect audiences with Chicago’s performing arts community after a devastating 18-month closure that left many in the industry in limbo. Exclusively showcasing Chicago-based artists, the festival has grown from 43 performing companies in its inaugural year to 111 groups and individual artists on-deck to appear at this September’s event.
Sixty-four artists and organizations new to Chicago Live! this year include: 8Matik Records, Alligator Records, Andrea Love, Ballet Folklorico de Chicago, Ballet Folklorico Xochitl, Boom Crack! Dance Company, DJ Ca$h Era, Cabinet of Curiosity Events, Calculated Discomfort, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, Chicago Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Closed Sessions, Dajae, Delmark Records, DJ Derrick Carter, Drag City, Eric Williams & Silver Room Productions, Felicia Fields, Fiddlerock Live, Galapogos4, Ginger Minj, Hedwig Dances, House of DOV, International Anthem, Jesse de la Pena’s Blue Groove Lounge, Kuumba Lynx, DJ Lady D, Linda Clifford, Liquid Soul, Little Fire Artist Collective, Lucky Plush Productions, Matter Dance Company, DJ Michael Serafini, Movement Revolution Dance Crew, Oliv Blu, Otherworld Theatre Company, DJ Psycho Bitch, DJ Ralphi Rosario, DJ Ron Carroll, Shawn Christopher, Shubukai, Suzanne Palmer, Tellin’ Tales Theatre, The Frankie Knuckles Foundation, The Numero Group, Tickled Pink: Mancini at 100, and Winifred Haun & Dancers.
Returning are: About Face Theatre, Aerial Dance Chicago, Black Ensemble Theater, Blue Man Group, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Chicago Dance Crash, Chicago Fringe Opera, Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Chicago Philharmonic, Chicago Repertory Ballet, Chicago Samba, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Chicago Sinfonietta, Culture Shock Chicago, DanceWorks Chicago, Dee Alexander, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, DJ Readerz, Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater, Forward Momentum, Game Changers, Giordano Dance Chicago, Hiplet Ballerinas, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Joel Hall Dancers, Joffrey Ballet, Kokandy Productions, Korean Performing Arts Institute of Chicago, Meher Dance Company, Momenta Dance Company, Muntu Dance Theatre, Para. Mar Dance Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, Red Clay Dance Company, The Second City, Soul Children of Chicago, South Chicago Dance Theatre, Teatro ZinZanni, The Happiness Club, The Seldoms, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, Too Much Molly, Trinity Irish Dance Company, Victor Garcia, Visceral Dance Chicago, and Yin He Dance.