Jennie Makes History as Lollapalooza Headliner — Local Review Mixes Praise and Reservations
BLACKPINK's Jennie took the stage as a headliner at the major U.S. music festival "Lollapalooza Chicago," writing a new record. Still, a local outlet's assessment of the performance's execution was split between praise and reservations. Here's a rundown of what happened. The First Korean Female Soloist to Headline On August 1 (local time), Jennie took the Bud Light stage at "Lollapalooza Chicago" as a headliner. With this, she set the record as the first Korean female solo artist to headline Lollapalooza. Founded in 1991, Lollapalooza is a premier North American festival; acts such as NewJeans (2023) and TWICE (2025) have taken its stage before. Over a set of about an hour, Jennie performed with a live band. Centering on tracks from her 2025 solo debut album "Ruby," she also presented new songs including "Less than a Lover," released on July 24. The Chicago Sun-Times' Assessment The local outlet Chicago Sun-Times assessed Jennie's set in a review on August 1. Its overall verdict was that while there were gem-like moments from "Ruby," there was a bit too much new material to fully grab on to — an assessment that carried both praise and reservations. Where it noted reservations — The Sun-Times felt she appeared to strain somewhat in carrying a major festival stage alone as a soloist. Compared with the contemporaries who had taken the stage as a group, dominating a huge stage on her own looked no easy task. Of the "Dracula" performance, a collaboration with Tame Impala, it noted that recorded vocals mixed with the live rendition left something to be desired. It also mentioned that with a large share of as-yet-unreleased new songs, the immersion of some in the audience who had hoped for familiar tracks seemed to waver. Where it praised — On the other hand, it clearly acknowledged the explosive power of the latter half. Of the closing run of "Mantra," "ExtraL," and "Like Jennie," it assessed that Jennie proved through charisma and performance why she had been tapped as a headliner. It singled out "Like Jennie" in particular as the true high point of the set. The Sun-Times also noted that "Ruby," even a year after release, remains a strong pop album, touching on Jennie's wide spectrum spanning rapper to R&B and balladeer. The Reviews Were Split, but the Record Is Clear Local reactions to the performance were divided. As it was a stage where she was assessed as a solo artist rather than as full-group BLACKPINK, a view that there was a different kind of pressure than when performing as a group coexisted with praise calling it a symbolic moment that opened a new era. Apart from the split reviews, the record itself — that Jennie became the first Korean female solo artist to headline Lollapalooza — is clear. Attention is gathering around how this stage, which heralded the next chapter of her solo career, will serve as a foothold for what comes next.
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