Megan Thee Stallion

The Houston hip-hop star gave a powerful Irish debut performance at Longitude, and now she’s back. After her freestyling videos went viral, the ‘Hot Girl Summer’ rapper went from playing strip clubs to the world’s biggest stages. A string of albums like Tina Snow, Fever and 2020’s Good News cemented her superstar status with hits like ‘Savage’ (featuring fellow Texas legend Beyonce), ‘Body’, ‘Thot Shit’ and new single ‘Pressurelicious’ with Future keeping us gripped.

Tame Impala

The psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist/producer Kevin Parker returned in 2020 with fourth studio album The Slow Rush, five years after Currents. Catapulted to fame with their 2010 LP Innerspeaker, Tame Impala was conceived in 2007 in Perth - with a string of EPs previewing their landmark debut. Stay tuned in September to catch the full band perform hits like ‘The Less I Know The Better’, ‘Borderline’, ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’ and more.

Dermot Kennedy

The Rathcoole singer-songwriter has come a long way since busking around Dublin. Delivering spine-tingling performances at previous Electric Picnic outings before 2020, he’ll return as a hometown headliner this year fresh from the release of sophomore album Sonder. His 2019 debut Without Fear has broken major chart records in Ireland, spanning streaming hits like ‘Giants’, ‘Power Over me’, ‘Better Days’ and ‘Outnumbered’.

Arctic Monkeys

The legendary Sheffield rock gods have played the festival numerous times, garnering feverous praise from fans and critics alike. With a new album, The Car, on the way, it marks their first since 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. Four years after this slight U-turn in sound (markedly different from their massively popular 2015 album AM), who knows what their next opus could bring?

Picture This

The Athy pop-rock group started out as a duo of Ryan Hennessy and Jimmy Rainsford, whose car performances went viral. When 2015 single ‘Take My Hand’ became a streaming sensation, the band became the first act to sell out their debut gig at The Academy. Seven years and countless 3Arena dates later, their 2017 debut LP, 2019 follow-up MDRN LV and 2021 album Life in Colour have all become hugely successful at home and abroad.

Anne-Marie

The English pop queen and The Voice UK judge has taken over the charts since her 2016 collaboration with Clean Bandit, ‘Rockabye’, hit No.1. Former Rudimental vocalist Anne-Marie has continued to drop bangers, from ‘Alarm’, ‘Ciao Adios’ and ‘Friends’ to ‘2002’ and ‘Kiss My (Uh Oh)’ - working with David Guetta, Marshmallo, Little Mix and Niall Horan before her second album Therapy landed last year.

For more about Electric Picnic (September 2-4), see electricpicnic.ie – and pick up a copy of the new Electric Picnic special issue of Hot Press: