Can Pittsburgh's 2026 concert lineup top a pretty hot '25?
Published in Entertainment News
PITTSBURGH — It's hard to call the 2025 concert year anything but a win for Pittsburgh, with visits from Paul McCartney, AC/DC, Post Malone, Pearl Jam, Sabrina Carpenter and Billy Strings — though not Billy Joel, because he canceled.
Can it be topped in '26?
Eh, probably not.
But, it's way early to make that call, and it all depends upon your taste. So far, it doesn't seem to have the same starry sheen.
One way to measure that now is to scan the various lists of the 10 biggest 2026 concert tours. SeatGeek just ran one, so let's roll with that. Of those 10, two are coming to Pittsburgh:
Morgan Wallen: The country superstar lit up PNC Park for two nights in 2023 on his One Night at a Time World Tour. Last summer, he played a handful of cities, including Cleveland, supporting "I'm the Problem." He brings the Still the Problem Tour to Acrisure Stadium June 5-6 with available tickets starting around $300.
Megan Moroney: One of country's newest stars, Moroney played Stage AE last June. She now returns to play PPG Paints Arena on June 16, a few months after the release of her third album, "Cloud 9."
The other 8
The eight tours on the Seatgeek list that are not playing Pittsburgh also include some very big names:
Rush: This one continues to be a mystery. Not only was Rush a staple in Pittsburgh from 1974 through 2012, the city was special for the Canadian band as that '74 show marked the debut of new drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. It was a surprise then when the 35-date R40 farewell tour in 2015 bypassed Pittsburgh. And now, there is no date here for The Fifty Something Tour, a reunion that finds Anika Nilles replacing the late beloved drummer.
Lady Gaga: Gaga has talked about Western Pennsylvania being part of her life, growing up with a grandma who lived in Wheeling. Her last tour stop in Pittsburgh, though, came in 2017 at PPG Paints Arena. There is no local date, however, for the Mayhem Ball Tour, which played big U.S. cities last year and has a second North American leg running February through April.
Luke Combs: The country giant, who doesn't seem to mind the cold, is set for East Coast stadium dates in April. He played one of those at Acrisure Stadium in April 2023, so he's due back soon.
AC/DC: No harm, no foul with the Aussie legends as The Power Up Tour, which hits North America for a second leg in February, already electrified Pittsburgh in May '25.
Zach Bryan: The emo-ish country star made his last Pittsburgh stop at PPG Paints Arena in March 2024. He launches a U.S. tour in March that includes a stop at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland on May 9.
Ariana Grande: The "Wicked" star brought her previous trek, The Sweetener World Tour, to PPG Paints Arena in June 2019, less than a year after the loss of her ex, Mac Miller. Her Eternal Sunshine Tour is hitting major U.S. markets (LA, Chicago, Boston, etc.) beginning in June.
Olivia Dean: The young British sensation, here to open for Sabrina Carpenter in October, launches her own headlining tour that will run July through August.
Foo Fighters: They skipped us on the Everything or Nothing at All Tour in 2023-24, making their last stop here in 2018 at PPG Paints Arena, when Dave Grohl talked half the time. The Take Cover Tour with Queens of the Stone Age plays stadiums in August and September including Cleveland (Aug. 10) and Philadelphia (Aug. 13).
What's coming
Here are the major-venue shows we know about, many of them being acts elevated from smaller stages:
Rascal Flatts (Feb. 27, PPG Paints Arena): The first major concert of 2026 finds the legendary country trio ("Life is a Highway") making its first trip to Pittsburgh since 2019 and headlining PPG for the first time.
Journey (March 2, PPG Paints Arena): The Hall of Fame band, last here with Def Leppard and Steve Miller at PNC Park (2024), will play the second date of its Final Frontier farewell tour at PPG, where we can hope for a better sound mix than the last time.
Three Days Grace (March 3, PPG Paints Arena): The Canadian post-grunge band, previously seen in opening slots like they were with Disturbed at PPG in 2019, returns there to headline on the Alienation Tour with I Prevail and The Funeral Portrait.
Cody Johnson (March 6, PPG Paints Arena): This is a makeup date with the trad country singer who canceled Pittsburgh and other dates in October due to illness.
Bring Me the Horizon (May 5, PPG Paints Arena): The only band on the list whose name is a full sentence, the British metalcore act makes the leap from UPMC Events Center (2022) to PPG with Motionless in White and The Plot In You.
MGK/Wiz Khalifa (June 10, The Pavilion at Star Lake): It's another Wiz matchup at Star Lake, this one with Machine Gun Kelly, the biggest disciple — and occasional foe — of Slim Shady.
5 Seconds of Summer (June 11, PPG Paints Arena): The explosively pop Australian band, having risen to fame One Direction openers, returns to PPG for the first time in seven years.
Alex Warren (June 23, PPG Paints Arena): The "American Ed Sheeran" came to fame as a member of the TikTok collective Hype House and now moves from theater level (Roxian in 2025) to the big house.
Riley Green (June 26, The Pavilion at Star Lake): Green, who had his first chart-topping country hit last year with "Worst Way," opened that Luke Combs show at Acrisure Stadium and then headlined Petersen Events Center in '24.
Jack Johnson (July 3, The Pavilion at Star Lake): The Hawaiian surfer dude behind "Flake" and other hits plays his first Pittsburgh show since Farm Aid in 2017.
Meghan Trainor (July 11, PPG Paints Arena): A dozen years later, she's still best known for "All About That Bass." She played Petersen Events Center in 2024 and now takes a bigger stage with Icona Pop.
Motley Crue (July 17, The Pavilion at Star Lake): More than 10 years on from their farewell tour, the sleazy L.A. legends, last here for The Stadium Tour with Def Leppard, will be on the road celebrating a 45th anniversary.
"Weird Al" Yankovic (Aug. 1, The Pavilion at Star Lake): The 66-year-old parody legend headlines Star Lake, having never headlined a Pittsburgh venue that had a capacity larger than 5,000.
Parker McCollum (Aug. 8, The Pavilion at Star Lake): The rising country star, who's been here to open for George Strait and Morgan Wallen, gets his first headlining gig in one of the major venues, joined by Munhall's own Gabby Barrett and Kassi Ashton.
Goo Goo Dolls (Aug. 14, The Pavilion at Star Lake): The veteran Buffalo, New York, band behind the hits "Name" and "Iris" is back in Burgettstown, having last played Stage AE in 2022.
© 2026 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Visit www.post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.












Comments