Jay-Z, Chance the Rapper lead list of headliners for Woodstock 50 festival

It's been two generations since rock history's best known festival took place, and planners say they want to bring the same spirit back with both original and modern artists

Dawn Onley

Mar 20, 2019

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When Woodstock took place in 1969 on an upstate New York farm, it boasted legends like Jimi Hendrix and Ritchie Havens singing radical tunes in the midst of a divided nation.

Fast forward 50 years and not much has changed, but this time around, attendees will hear headliners including Jay-Z and Chance the Rapper among an A-list lineup, organizers announced.

Complex magazine reported the return of the culture shifting event will bring a bevy of new artists to mark Woodstock’s 50th anniversary including Janelle Monáe, Princess Nokia, Common, Akon, and India Arie. But organizers haven’t forgotten the originals that made the show famous.

“The lineup will be a mix of some of the old bands who are still performing and a lot of new headline talent. Probably more than any other festival’s ever had,” Michael Lang, who co-founded the original festival, told Billboard in a recent interview. “It’ll cross genres from rock to pop, folk and hip hop. It’s kind of representative of this idea of engagement and trying to steer toward acts that are heavily involved in social issues. So there’s some real gravitas in the performance and we want it to live on beyond the event.”

Woodstock took place Aug. 15-17, 1969 in Bethel, N.Y., about 105 miles from New York City. In addition to Hendrix and Havens. Performances included Carlos Santana, Sly & the Family Stone, and Janis Joplin, who died in 1970 about two weeks after Hendrix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwIymq0iTsw

Woodstock 50 will also feature several legends who played the 1969 festival – including Santana, David Crosby, John Fogerty, Canned Heat, as well as members of Dead & Co, according to Complex Magazine.

This year, as was the case for the initial Woodstock, each of the Woodstock 50 performances will take place on one of three stages – the Peace Stage, Love Stage and Music Stage.

Woodstock 50 happens on August 16-18 in Watkins Glen, N.Y., about 140 miles from the original site. Tickets will go on sale on April 22. The full lineup is available here.