The lineup for the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival has officially been released and Nicki Minaj will take the stage alongside Avril Lavigne, Megan Thee Stallion, Sam Smith, Halsey, and many more. The two-day festival will take place in Las Vegas on Friday, September 23rd, and Saturday the 24th with Minaj taking the main stage at the T-Mobile Arena on day 1. Sure enough, it didn’t take long for fans to express their excitement after the announcement with one taking to Twitter stating “CAN’T WAIT TO SEE THE QUEEN OMG.”
Another one states, “The BARBZ will be present and thank you for having us and our BRAND.”
Reminiscing Nicki Minaj’s festival Performances
Minaj made her first iHeart appearance back in 2011 amidst her Pink Friday era, where she unapologetically took the stage and showcased the pop barbie persona she was known for. Her set in September 2014 was to follow, and it was definitely one to remember as she performed hits like “Super Bass”, “Moment 4 Life”, “Beez In The Trap,” and brought out Ariana Grande for the iconic “Bang Bang,” and effortlessly performed her “Flawless” verse acapella.
That took place just as she was embarking on her Pinkprint era, so fans are eager to see what Minaj will bring to the stage this year, especially considering it’s been years since she last appeared at this festival.
An Album Rollout Possibly Taking Place
Minaj getting back on this stage is a great opportunity to familiarize herself with her U.S. fans because it has definitely been a while since they have last seen her. Her last U.S. festival appearance was back in 2019 when Ariana Grande brought her out at Coachella and prior to that, it was back in 2018 at the Made In America festival. It’s also worth mentioning Minaj last went on tour in 2019 following the release of her fourth album Queen (2018) for her Nicki Wrld Tour that had a 19 show run across Europe but didn’t end up reaching the states.
Thankfully Minaj is making her way back to performing for her U.S. fans as she is expected to perform at the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on July 1st, and hopefully, more shows are to come.
One thing for certain is fans are highly expecting new music to be released in the meantime. She has been teasing her fifth album since the beginning of this year after releasing her two singles with Lil Baby, “Do We Have A Problem” and “Bussin,” and had mentioned an album is on the way. In her Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, she stated,
“The album is coming very soon obviously that’s why I started putting out music…I would like to give them (the fans) a taste of a little bit more music before the album comes out but we feel like it’s time.”
She also teased a song that she seemed eager to put out stating, “There is a solo song that I can’t wait for my freaking fans to hear,” so perhaps that is a release we can expect as the festival approaches.
Minaj’s latest release was her collaboration with Fivio Foreign in “We Go Up” back in March that she mentioned was a scrap from her upcoming album, but since then it’s been unclear when she plans to make another release. Fans can only hope Minaj heading back to performing is confirmation new music is coming or possibly even her new album by the time she takes the stage at the iHeartRadio Music Festival.
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