Rock in Rio will be held for the first time in the U.S. in 2015, with No Doubt, Metallica, Taylor Swift and Linkin Park among the incomplete list of artists who will take the main stage at the music festival in Las Vegas over two weekends in May. Rock in Rio also announced that the Deftones as well as John Legend will perform on the Sunset Stage. The event is scheduled to take place during the second two weekends of May 2015, Friday the 8th, Saturday the 9th, and Friday the 15th, Saturday the 16th at the MGM Resorts Festival Grounds. Currently, festival organizers are working with Cirque du Soleil to build a venue there. Named “City of Rock,” the permanent, open air venue includes six stages staggered out across thirty-seven acres on the Strip. A zip-line will also be build on the festival grounds and three “Rock Streets” will be built, with music and culture of the U.S., U.K., and Brazil themes. The enormous space is meant to hold up to 85,000 people a day.
The 2015 U.S. launch of Rock in Rio coincides with the massive music festival’s thirtieth anniversary. Originally launched in 1985 in Rio de Janeiro, the first fest saw a lineup including Queen, AC/DC, Rod Stewart and Iron Maiden. The event later grew and expanded to host festivals in Spain and Portugal. Friday night, September 26th, Rock in Rio organizers announced the Las Vegas lineup for 2015 at a New York Time’s Square event. “From the first Rock in Rio festival in Brazil in 1985 to next year’s anniversary and Las Vegas launch, it’s been an amazing journey with Rock in Rio fans and the artists that have taken part in the festival,” said Roberta Medina, VP of Rock in Rio. “We’re thrilled to see the construction of our first US City of Rock and to announce the first artists who will perform in Las Vegas in May 2015.” The announcement event saw performances from Rock in Rio veterans such as John Mayer (playing “No Such Thing” and “Gravity”), Sepulture with Les Tambours Du Bronx, along with a short appearance of No Doubt, who will be playing together today, Saturday, for the time in two years at the Global Citizens Fest at New York’s Great Lawn of Central Park. Sting will be collaborating with them.
Also on Friday, iHeartRadio, Yahoo and NCM Networks were announced to be in partnership with Rock in Rio, and as part of its partnership, iHeartMedia will launch an on-air and digital promotion around the festival. This will include an exclusive 24/7 Rock in Rio digital music station as well as an Ultimate Contest that gives listeners the chance to win an all–inclusive trip to Rock in Rio in Brazil, as well as promoting sweepstakes for Rock in Rio USA. Artists such as Shakira, Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce have played Rock in Rio at the original location in Brazil, and this May’s performance will mark Metallica’s seventh Rock in Rio performance while at the same time marking Taylor Swift’s debut at the festival. John Legend and Katy Perry is already set to perform Brazil’s next Rock in Rio in September of 2015. Tickets for the U.S. Rock in Rio show in Las Vegas are available for purchase here.