If you thought festival lineups had already peaked, Louder Than Life 2026 just kicked the door back in.
Set for September 17th to 20th Louder Than Life 2026 is happening at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky, the 12th edition of America’s Largest Rock & Metal Festival will host nearly 200 bands across seven stages, it’s officially the most expansive bill ever assembled by Danny Wimmer Presents.
For Aussie fans watching from afar and weighing up a Stateside trip, this one reads like a bucket list endurance test.
The Full Louder Than Life 2026 Lineup (A–Z, Subject To Change)
My Chemical Romance, Iron Maiden, TOOL, Limp Bizkit, Pantera, Pierce The Veil, Gojira, Danny Elfman, The Prodigy, Sublime, Papa Roach, A Day To Remember, BABYMETAL, Megadeth, Danzig, Halestorm, Rise Against, Alice Cooper, Circa Survive, Ice Nine Kills, Jimmy Eat World, The Mars Volta, Mastodon, The Used, Bilmuri, Sabaton, Coheed and Cambria, The Pretty Reckless, Hot Mulligan, Taking Back Sunday, Sleeping With Sirens, In This Moment, Dance Gavin Dance, Chiodos, Black Label Society, Killswitch Engage, Anthrax, Ministry, CAVALERA, Skillet, The Warning, Nothing More, Tom Morello, Lindsey Stirling, Dethklok, Black Veil Brides, Kublai Khan TX, Underoath, Alkaline Trio, Machine Head, Suicidal Tendencies, Chad Gray, Starset, Badflower, Alexisonfire, Animals As Leaders, Thrice, LOATHE, Coal Chamber, P.O.D., The Home Team, Bowling For Soup, Thursday, We The Kings, From Ashes To New, Fit For A King, Sleep Theory, President, GWAR, Palaye Royale, L.S. Dunes, Atreyu, Lit, Get Scared, Set It Off, Blood For Blood, Sunami, Filter, Alissa White-Gluz, Soulfly, Between The Buried And Me, ERRA, Chelsea Grin, After The Burial, Lacey Sturm: The Voice of FLYLEAF, Toadies, Currents, Orianthi, Boundaries, Make Them Suffer, Metal Church, The Acacia Strain, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Holding Absence, HAYWIRE, Spite, Agnostic Front, Escape The Fate, Jutes, Emmure, ivri, Alien Ant Farm, Bodysnatcher, Scene Queen, Caskets, Rain City Drive, The Funeral Portrait, PeelingFlesh, Haste The Day, Holywatr, Locked Shut, Hail The Sun, Madball, I See Stars, Mushroomhead, Angel Du$t, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Word Alive, Jeff Hardy, Mac Sabbath, The Ataris, The Rasmus, Volumes, Wind Walkers, Twitching Tongues, Powerman 5000, The Barbarians of California, Emery, Maylene & The Sons of Disaster, Born of Osiris, H2O, Red, Josey Scott: The Original Voice of SALIVA, Adelitas Way, Thousand Below, Soil, Arrows in Action, Chained Saint, Zero 9:36, Elijah, Holy Wars, Butcher Babies, Nevertel, Dry Kill Logic, Icon For Hire, Kami Kehoe, Codefendants, Texas Hippie Coalition, Austin Carlile: The Original Voice of Of Mice & Men, The Pretty Wild, End It, Vana, Rivers of Nihil, Like Moths To Flames, Signs of the Swarm, Archers, KOYO, Primer 55, Emarosa, Gemini Syndrome, Shaman’s Harvest, 200 Stab Wounds, 156/Silence, Missing Link, Fox Lake, sace6, Greyhaven, King 810, Many Eyes, Tantric, The Violent Hour, Dark Divine, Sent By Ravens, Showing Teeth, Earshot, TX2, Diamante, OTHERWISE, Doobie, He Is Legend, Aviana, vianova, Future Palace, Cane Hill, Corpse Pile, 40 Below Summer, Heavy//Hitter, Bodybox, Boltcutter, Resolve, Dreamwake, Gates To Hell, Death Valley Dreams, Set For Tomorrow, Billy McNicol.
Four Nights, Four Massive Headliners
Headliners are stacked across the weekend:
Thursday, September 17: Iron Maiden, Pantera, Megadeth
Friday, September 18: My Chemical Romance, Pierce The Veil, A Day To Remember
Saturday, September 19: Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Sublime
Sunday, September 20: TOOL, Gojira, Danny Elfman
Special Moments Locked In
Pantera’s set will be their only U.S. show of 2026, Megadeth are billing one of their final farewell performances, Cavalera will perform Sepultura’s ‘Roots’ in full, Jimmy Eat World marks 25 years of ‘Bleed American’, while Sleeping With Sirens celebrates 15 years of ‘Let’s Cheers To This’.
There are reunion slots for Circa Survive, Get Scared, Blood For Blood, Metal Church, Primer 55, Sent By Ravens and 40 Below Summer, plus a Mystery Guest debut and a yet-to-be-announced Very Special Guest described as one of the biggest heavy bands of the modern era.
Throw in free access to Kentucky Kingdom amusement rides and the new Battle for the Big Stage competition, and this isn’t just a festival. It’s a full blown spectacle.
All pass types are on sale now via LouderThanLifeFestival.com.
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