Bonnaroo announces 2022 lineup after two-year hiatus

Bonnaroo is sticking close to its roots for a comeback this summer.

• The new 2022 lineup includes Bonnaroo's trademark mix of established icons (Stevie Nicks, Tool, The Chicks) and contemporary hitmakers (21 Savage, J. Cole, Machine Gun Kelly).

Why it matters: 2022 is a high-stakes year for Bonnaroo following two consecutive cancellations that put the festival that remade Manchester on shaky ground.

• COVID-19 shuttered the festival in 2020 while the remnants of Hurricane Ida forced a last-minute cancellation in 2021.

Between the lines: The back-to-back disappointments dealt a financial blow to the festival, its vendors, and Manchester.

• There's also an air of uncertainty within the concert industry due to the Omicron surge.

The latest: Organizers pushed past those disappointments, projecting their familiar brand of positivity when unveiling the new lineup.

• Tickets go on sale Thursday. The festival is set to kick off June 16.
• The bottom line: You know the roster is stacked when megawatt stars such as Ludacris and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss don't make the top line of the poster.

💭 Nate's thought bubble: Rumors swirled this week that Live Nation, Bonnaroo's owner, would skimp on the lineup after the financial losses of the last two years.

• Instead, organizers are offering a deep and musically diverse mix. In non-pandemic years, this lineup would almost certainly sell out.