Music and Concerts – Page 19

Mario Abney, co-founder and CEO, right, dances as Kevin Nabors and other members of the Windy City Ramblers perform at the 95th/Dan Ryan Red Line CTA station in Roseland on Oct. 1, 2026, at the culmination of the Red Line Jazz Festival. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)

A quartet of new music festivals take root in Chicago this month

By Hannah Edgar

October 7, 2026 at 10:00 a.m.

Summer is over, but music festival season very much isn’t. Cue the Red Line Jazz...

FILE – Freddie Jackson attends a special screening of “The Magnificent Seven” in New York on Sept. 19, 2016. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Grammy-nominated R&B singer Freddie Jackson, known for ’80s hits like ‘You Are My Lady,’ dies at 70

By Maria Sherman

October 6, 2026 at 1:51 p.m.

Grammy-nominated R&B singer Freddie Jackson, known for his smooth ’80s hits “Rock Me Tonight (For...

City Voices, under director William Chin, will perform “A Song of Joys,” a program of choral pieces inspired by the poetry of Sara Teasdale and Walt Whitman, in Oak Park on Oct. 17 and 18. (City Voices)

City Voices to put poetry of Walt Whitman and Sara Teasdale to song in Oak Park

By Myrna Petlicki

October 5, 2026 at 4:55 p.m.

Oak Park's City Voices will perform a program of choral pieces inspired by the poems...

Beth Conley, from left, Brianne Bibbs and Cindy Woods talk while listening to Noeline Hofmann perform at Windy City Smokeout outside the United Center on July 9, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)

Review: Windy City Smokeout is influencers, brands, Texas barbecue and, oh right, country music

By Christopher Borrelli

July 11, 2026 at 10:32 p.m.

Chicago has long had real country music fans, but the music here is more pop...

FILE – Singer Bonnie Tyler performs her song “Believe in Me” during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden on May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

Bonnie Tyler, who topped the charts with epic ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart,’ has died at 75

By Mark Kennedy

July 9, 2026 at 7:44 a.m.

Bonnie Tyler, the gravelly voiced, Grammy-nominated Welsh pop star best known for singing the chart-topping...

Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart of the band Rush performs at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago on Dec. 14, 1978. (Paul Natkin/Getty)

50 years of Rush in Chicago: A local history of the band in 10 concerts

By Bob Gendron

July 9, 2026 at 5:30 a.m.

Rush arrives soon for a series of concerts at the United Center. The veteran prog-rockers...

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...