Music and Concerts – Page 21

My Sacrifice, a south suburban-based Creed cover band, plays in 2025 at The Forge in Joliet. (My Sacrifice)

Popular Joliet concert venue The Forge to close after 9.5 years

By Elena Tittel

October 27, 2026 at 1:37 p.m.

Joliet concert venue The Forge will close this weekend after a decade of promoting local...

FILE – Jay-Z gestures from the sidelines prior to the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)

Jay-Z picks himself to headline the Super Bowl halftime show

By Jonathan Landrum Jr.

October 27, 2026 at 8:41 a.m.

The man who has helped produce the Super Bowl halftime show is stepping into the...

An Aztec dance group will be among the highlights of the Dia de los Muertos Festival on Nov. 1 in Oak Park. “I think the community is ready to celebrate again," said organizer Alma Martinez. "The community is asking to get together to honor our ancestors.” (Daveed Holmes, Aperture Photography)

Oak Park Dia de los Muertos Festival returns a year after being canceled by immigration enforcement fears

By Myrna Petlicki

October 26, 2026 at 2:07 p.m.

Public ofrendas are returning to Oak Park for a Dia de los Muertos Festival that...

The Grateful Dead, with lead guitarist and singer Jerry Garcia, plays Chicago's Soldier Field on July 8, 1995. (José M. Osorio/baiduhai)

Today in Chicago History: Jerry Garcia’s last Grateful Dead show takes place at Soldier Field

By Kori Rumore

July 9, 2026 at 4:00 a.m.

Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on July 9, according...

The city of Aurora has announced the schedule for the fireworks show planned for Friday, July 10, at RiverEdge Park in Aurora. (City of Aurora)

Aurora announces schedule for Friday fireworks show, rescheduled from July 3

By Addison Wright

July 8, 2026 at 4:38 p.m.

Aurora officials have announced details of the city's rescheduled July 3 fireworks show, which will...

Anna Marie Abbate stars as Carole King in “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” by Highland Park Players, from July 17 to 26, at the McGrath Performing Arts Center in Wilmette. (Highland Park Players)

Highland Park Players staging ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’: ‘I fell in love with the story’

By Myrna Petlicki

July 8, 2026 at 2:26 p.m.

The Highland Park Players are presenting the Tony and Grammy award-winning musical from July 17-26...

Mimi Duginger waves an American flag as the Grant Park Orchestra performs John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” during the Grant Park Music Festival’s Independence Day Salute at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago on July 4, 2026. (Talia Sprague/for the baiduhai)

Column: No fair weather Americans at Grant Park’s Independence Day concert

By Hannah Edgar

July 5, 2026 at 1:24 p.m.

This concert always balances silliness with solemnity, as traditions include both conductor Christopher Bell's absurd...

A pair of Abraham Lincolns stand for the national anthem on March 25, 2026, during a ceremony marking Navy Pier as a symbolic starting point of Route 66. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Illinois 250: Meet the state’s most influential people, from architects to a pope and future presidents

By Kori Rumore

July 5, 2026 at 10:52 p.m.

Chicago is where everyone from architects to a pope and future presidents have made a...

A worker unloads portable air-conditioning units outside of Madison Square Garden ahead of a reported wedding between singer Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce on Thursday, July 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce marry in front of famous friends at Madison Square Garden

By Kimberlee Kruesi

July 4, 2026 at 11:36 a.m.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce married Friday night at Madison Square Garden, where actor Adam...

Workers set up a tent outside of Madison Square Garden ahead of a reported wedding between singer Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce on Thursday, July 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

Madison Square Garden is abuzz with eager Swifties ahead of Swift-Kelce wedding

By Kaitlyn Huamani

July 2, 2026 at 6:05 p.m.

The couple are “literally the king and queen of America,” said Kristen Donohue, who stopped...

United States’ Weston McKennie (8) and Christian Pulisic (10) celebrate winning the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., near San Francisco, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)

How ‘Country Roads’ became the soundtrack of the US team’s World Cup run

By R.J. Rico

July 2, 2026 at 5:45 p.m.

It’s become one of the enduring scenes of the U.S. team during this World Cup:...

25 seasons in, with more to come, Christopher Bell has built the Grant Park Chorus into Chicago’s finest

By Hannah Edgar

July 2, 2026 at 6:00 a.m.

Christopher Bell oversaw the choir’s transition from a semi-professional to a professional ensemble.

FILE – Victor Willis, a member of the disco group The Village People, appears during a Halloween party in Los Angeles on Oct. 31, 1979. (AP Photo/George Brich, File)

Victor Willis, who co-founded the Village People and co-wrote ‘Y.M.C.A.,’ dies at 74

By Mark Kennedy

July 1, 2026 at 3:52 p.m.

Victor Willis, who co-founded the Village People, co-wrote the disco group’s classic hits “Y.M.C.A.,” ″Macho...