Jon Stewart, Brandi Carlile, James Taylor, Paul Simon and More Set for Tanglewood 2026 Popular Artist Series

The Tanglewood Popular Artist Series, which each year brings a star-studded lineup of musicians and performers to Tanglewood’s Koussevitzky Music Shed, continues to expand its 2026 summer season with the addition of Jon Stewart among a roster of major artists across genres including rock, country, pop, Broadway, and soul.

Current announced performances this summer include Alabama Shakes, Brandi Carlile, Carrie Underwood, James Taylor, Jason Isbell, John Fogerty & Steve Winwood, Jon Stewart, Paul Simon, Tedeschi Trucks Band, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Yacht Rock Revue, Ziggy Marley and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue as well as Cynthia Erivo and Hugh Jackman set to perform with the Boston Pops.

These concerts join a lineup that already includes Paul Simon, who will perform on June 27, with a second performance added on June 28 due to overwhelming demand, as well as James Taylor and his All-Star Band on July 3 and July 4, continuing Taylor’s decades-long tradition of Independence Day performances at Tanglewood.

Together, these performances continue the Popular Artist Series’ long-standing tradition of bringing some of the world’s most celebrated musicians and performers to the Berkshires each summer.

2026 TANGLEWOOD POPULAR ARTIST SERIES LINEUP

JON STEWART

With Special Guest band Church and State
Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 7:00pm

Jon Stewart is considered one of America’s top social and comedic voices. In 2024, Stewart returned as host and executive producer of Comedy Central’s EMMY Award winning The Daily Show. Picking up right where he left off from his original 16 year run as host, Stewart continues to redefine and set the bar for political satire in American culture. In 2021, Stewart launched The Problem with Jon Stewart which ran for two seasons on AppleTV+. The EMMY nominated series, which Stewart hosted and executive produced, brought together people impacted by different parts of a global problem to discuss how we come up with change. Stewart is also the host and executive producer of The Weekly Show, a podcast featuring in-depth conversations where Stewart and his special guests discuss the challenges, changes and ideas that are shaping our world. In addition to his work both in front and behind the camera, Stewart is also a dedicated social activist. His efforts have played an integral role in the passing of legislation such as the PACT Act, which provides needed medical coverage to veterans that were exposed to toxic burn pits, and the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Bill, which benefitted thousands of first responders and their families. Stewart also works tirelessly on behalf of America’s wounded veterans through initiatives led by organizations such as the Wounded Warrior Project and Team Rubicon.

YACHT ROCK REVUE

Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 2:30pm

Yacht Rock Revue, hailed by Rolling Stone as the "world's premier soft-rock party band," invites listeners on a nostalgic voyage through the sun-soaked melodies of the '70s and '80s. With dy-no-mite renditions of hits by Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, and more, Yacht Rock Revue is widely recognized as the driving force behind the yacht rock resurgence, sharing stages with icons and garnering a devoted following of "Anchorheads." 2026 marks their most ambitious production yet, but with the intimacy and interactive touch that harkens back to their days as a club band. Channeling the golden age of television and their humble beginnings in an Atlanta, GA basement in 2007, it's PRIMETIME

PAUL SIMON

Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 7:30pm
Sun, Jun 28, 2026, 6:00pm

Paul Simon, one of the most celebrated and beloved singer-songwriters of all time, is set to make his Tanglewood debut this summer as part of the festival’s Popular Artist Series. The 16-time GRAMMY® Award winner and two-time Rock & Rock Hall of Fame inductee brings his highly acclaimed “A Quiet Celebration” tour to the Koussevitzky Music Shed.

The show will be in two parts, opening with the performance of the GRAMMY-nominated masterpiece Seven Psalms. This beautiful 33-minute continuous piece of music was heralded by the press worldwide—Variety called it "Quietly stunning...unlike any other Simon album" and Rock Cellar hailed it as, "a stunning achievement from an artist with a career full of them." After a brief intermission, the show resumes with Simon performing many of his greatest hits and many deep cuts celebrating the breadth of his career.

JAMES TAYLOR AND HIS ALL-STAR BAND

Fri, Jul 3, 2026, 8:00pm
Sat, Jul 4, 2026, 8:00pm

As America marks its 250th anniversary, American musical icon James Taylor returns to Tanglewood with his All-Star Band for performances in Tanglewood’s Koussevitzky Music Shed. Taylor’s July 4 performance will be followed by an Independence Day fireworks display over the Stockbridge Bowl and proceeds from the holiday concert will be donated by Kim and James Taylor to support Tanglewood.

The 2026 concerts mark 52 years since Taylor first performed at Tanglewood, beginning a favorite annual tradition that has become the emotional centerpiece of the festival’s Popular Artist Series. Summer after summer, Taylor displays his inimitable ability to maintain an intimate audience connection while consistently selling out the Shed and drawing a capacity “Lawn Nation” crowd, many of whom share his deep ties to the Berkshires. One of the world’s most decorated and beloved singer songwriters, Taylor was awarded the 2024 Tanglewood Medal in recognition of his extraordinary accomplishments as an artist and performer and his many contributions to the Tanglewood and Berkshires communities. Prior medal recipients were: Seiji Ozawa (the BSO’s longest serving music director), John Oliver (Tanglewood Festival Chorus founder and director), and John Williams (composer and Boston Pops Conductor Laureate).

ZIGGY MARLEY AND TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE

Tue, Jul 14, 2026, 7:00pm

Celebrate the revolutionary spirit of Bastille Day with Ziggy Marley and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue in a rollicking evening of high-energy reggae, funk, blues, and jazz. A nine-time Grammy winner, Emmy winner, and humanitarian activist, Marley extends his father’s reggae legacy to new frontiers, fusing its traditional sound with other genres, modern sounds, and new recording techniques. He is making his first appearance at the festival. A Grammy-winning NOLA icon, Trombone Shorty performed America the Beautiful at the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans, leads his own Mardi Gras parade atop a giant float crafted in his likeness, was part of the inaugural class inducted in the NOLA Walk of Fame and has taken over the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival's hallowed final set.

“WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC: BIGGER & WEIRDER 2026 TOUR

With Special Guest Puddles Pity Party
Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 7:00pm

Weird Al brings his legendary full-production multimedia comedy rock show back to the concert stage with the BIGGER & WEIRDER 2026 Tour, playing his iconic hits as well as some never-performed-live before fan favorites. Al’s long-time band is joined by four additional players to create a super-sized concert experience.

“Weird Al” Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist in history. A 5-time Grammy Award winner, he is best known for his parodies of the biggest musical artists over the last 4 decades, including Madonna, Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift, Queen, U2 and Lady Gaga, all with their personal blessings. His many hits include “Amish Paradise,” “Eat It,” “Like a Surgeon,” “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Word Crimes,” and the platinum-selling “White & Nerdy.” His last album Mandatory Fun is the only comedy album in history to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200. Yankovic’s live shows have entertained audiences across the globe for generations, including appearances at such iconic venues as Radio City Music Hall, The Hollywood Bowl, Red Rocks, Carnegie Hall, Wolf Trap, The Kennedy Center and Madison Square Garden. In 2022, Yankovic produced and co-wrote the Emmy-winning biopic WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe in the title role.

JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT

With Special Guest Patty Griffin
Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 7:00pm

Six-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Jason Isbell is one of the most respected and celebrated artists of his generation. The North Alabama native possesses an incredible penchant for identifying and articulating some of the deepest, yet simplest, human emotions, and turning them into beautiful poetry through song. Isbell sings of the everyday human condition with thoughtful, heartfelt, and sometimes brutal honesty.

After releasing multiple critically-acclaimed albums, appearing in an Academy Award-nominated film, Killers of the Flower Moon, and touring the world with his band, the 400 Unit, Isbell began 2025 with a change of pace. A solo record. Simply Isbell and his voice and an acoustic guitar, an all-mahogany 1940 Martin 0-17. Recorded at Electric Lady Studios in NYC, ‘Foxes in the Snow’ further demonstrates his pure talent as a songwriter and musician. As Stereogum so aptly put it, "the barebones intimacy recenters the artist behind the persona and serves as a reminder that this guy can write a damn song."

HUGH JACKMAN WITH THE BOSTON POPS AND KEITH LOCKHART

Tue, Aug 11, 2026, 7:00pm

Hugh Jackman is an award-winning actor celebrated for his work across film, theater, and music. He earned a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media as the lead in The Greatest Showman, starring alongside Zac Efron and Zendaya, and his performance in Les Misérables captivated global audiences and garnered him a Golden Globe for Best Actor, Musical or Comedy. His extensive film credits include Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine, the X-Men series, Logan, Prisoners, and Florian Zeller’s The Son. Most recently, Jackman starred in Song Sung Blue, co-starring Kate Hudson, written and directed by Craig Brewer. Beyond acting, he has achieved critical acclaim through his production company, TOGETHER Productions, for which the second season has been announced. Along with other new shows, back by popular demand is the critically acclaimed play, Sexual Misconduct, co-starring Jackman and Ella Beatty live on stage at the Audible Theater in New York City. Up next on screen for Jackman is The Death of Robin Hood, out in theaters in May 2026. Legendary Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart leads this concert.

BRANDI CARLILE

With Special Guest Jensen McRae
Tue, Aug 18, 2026, 7:00pm

One of music’s most respected voices, Brandi Carlile is an Oscar-nominee, 11-time Grammy winner, two time Emmy winner, and No. 1 New York Times bestselling author.

After pouring herself into projects with musical icons, Carlile looks inward on her new album, Returning To Myself (Interscope Records/Lost Highway), produced by Carlile, Andrew Watt, Aaron Dessner, and Justin Vernon. The acclaimed album debuted at No. 7 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart and landed at No. 1 on Billboard’s Americana/Folk Albums, Top Rock Albums, and Top Rock & Alternative Albums charts. The record follows Who Believes in Angels?, the universally praised, Grammy-nominated collaborative album with her childhood hero Elton John, which debuted at No. 1 in the U.K. and top 10 in the U.S.

In the midst of yet another monumental year, Carlile was recently honored as one of TIME’s 2026 Women of the Year, performed a rendition of “America The Beautiful” at Super Bowl LX, and kicked off her extensive The Human Tour, which consists of arena shows across North America, the U.K., and Europe. Carlile will also return to the Gorge Amphitheatre for three nights this spring with her "Echoes Through The Canyon" weekend, featuring The Highwomen, Sheryl Crow, Indigo Girls, Bonnie Raitt, Wynonna Judd, I’m With Her, Brittney Spencer, and Sara Bareilles.

Beloved by her peers, Carlile has worked with artists such as Soundgarden, Sam Smith, Alicia Keys, Hozier, Noah Kahan, P!nk, and Dolly Parton. She was named OUT Magazine’s Icon of the Year and was awarded Billboard’s Women In Music Trailblazer Award and NMPA’s Songwriter Icon Award, as well as multiple awards from the Americana Music Association. Carlile is also a founder of the Looking Out Foundation, which has raised over $9 million for grassroots causes to date.

CYNTHIA ERIVO WITH THE BOSTON POPS

Fri, Aug 21, 2026, 8:00pm

GRAMMY, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning and three-time Academy Award-nominated actress, singer, author, and producer Cynthia Erivo joins the Boston Pops in the 2026 Tanglewood Popular Artist Series schedule, performing at the renowned summer music festival on Friday, August 21 at 8 p.m. Joined by conductor Anthony Parnther leading the Pops and her Music Director Mark G. Meadows, the powerhouse vocalist makes her Tanglewood debut in a program showcasing music from a range of genres and composers.

Bursting onto the Broadway scene in the 2015 revival of The Color Purple, Erivo recently drew widespread acclaim for her performance as Elphaba opposite Ariana Grande’s Glinda in the two-part film adaptation of Wicked, which has since become the highest grossing movie ever at the domestic box office based on a Broadway musical. In February, she premiered a one-woman show Dracula in the West End. Erivo also recently released her second studio album I Forgive You, published her book Simply More: A Book for Anyone Who Has Been Told They’re Too Much, and wrapped production on several feature films. Her Tanglewood performance follows a sold-out performance with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall in May 2025.

CARRIE UNDERWOOD

Sat, Aug 29, 2026, 7:00pm

Tanglewood is pleased to announce that multi-platinum superstar and eight-time GRAMMY® award winner Carrie Underwood will perform at the venue on Saturday, August 29 at 7 p.m. The concert will be Underwood’s first appearance at the famed Tanglewood Music Festival.

Underwood is the highest RIAA certified female country artist of all time and is the only woman to have won the Academy of Country Music Award’s Entertainer of the Year three times. A successful entrepreneur and author in addition to her impressive musical achievements, she will make her Tanglewood debut following her second season as a judge on the upcoming season of American Idol, the show that helped make her a household name when she won in 2005.

TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND

With Special Guest Lukas Nelson
Wed, Sep 2, 2026, 7:00pm

Known for its electrifying blend of rock, blues, jazz, and country and regarded as one of the best live acts touring today, Grammy Award-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band keeps the Tanglewood party going into September as part of their Future Soul 2026 tour behind their forthcoming sixth studio album of the same name, out March 20 (the infectious single “I Got You” is out now). Making their Tanglewood debut, the 12-piece band is led by wife-and-husband duo Susan Tedeschi (vocals/guitar) and Derek Trucks (guitar), whom NPR has called “two of the best roots rock musicians of their generation.” The band won the Grammy for Best Blues Album in 2012 and performed at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in honor of Joe Cocker, one of their biggest influences. Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lukas Nelson opens as special guest.

ALABAMA SHAKES

With Special Guest Mavis Staples
Sat, Sep 5, 2026, 7:00pm

The Athens, AL-raised band, comprised of vocalist/guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, and bassist Zac Cockrell exploded onto the scene in 2012 with their debut album Boys & Girls, (ATO Records), which entered Billboard’s Independent Albums chart at No. 1. Boys & Girls earned the band multiple GRAMMY nominations and was hailed as one of the year’s best albums by numerous publications, including Rolling Stone, which also named lead single “Hold On” the #1 Best Song of 2012. Soon after its release, the bandmates found themselves thrust into the global spotlight, achieving such milestones as performing at the White House and on “Saturday Night Live.”

The band’s legacy continued to grow with the groundbreaking Sound & Color (ATO Records). Released 10 years ago, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, won GRAMMY Awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. The first single, “Don’t Wanna Fight,” took honors in the Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song categories. Sound & Color marked a profound evolution from Alabama Shakes’ debut album, as The New York Times Magazine observed, heralding the band’s “soul-stirring, shape-shifting new sound.” Both Sound & Color and Boys & Girls were certified Platinum by the RIAA.

The Shakes’ Cockrell, Fogg, & Howard have reunited in the studio and released a new single “Another Life” last year.

JOHN FOGERTY & STEVE WINWOOD

Sun, Sep 6, 2026, 6:00pm

As lead singer and guitarist of Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty won a Grammy Award and was inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Hall of Fame. Singer-songwriter, legendary vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, mandolin player, and producer Steve Winwood has sold over 50 million records over his five-decade career. Winwood is a co-founder of Traffic, one of the most important British rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. Both artists have performed at Tanglewood once before, Winwood in 1991 and Fogerty in 2024.

HOW TO BUY TICKETS

Tanglewood.org is the official site for all Tanglewood tickets. Tickets also may be purchased by calling 888-266-1200 on Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 12:30-4:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the Symphony Hall Box Office during regular Box Office hours.

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