Live Nation is announcing a major concert in Salt Lake City. Who will it be?

A big concert is heading Utah’s way.
Live Nation, the leading concert promoter, has partnered with the University of Utah to announce a show that will play at Rice-Eccles Stadium next year.
The announcement comes Thursday morning, with Jason Farrell, president of Live Nation Utah, and the University of Utah Athletics’ director of broadcasting, Bill Riley, in attendance, according to a news release shared with the Deseret News.
A similar press conference will take place the same day in Charlotte, North Carolina, per WBTV News.
Ahead of the big reveal, here’s a look at some of the potential artists who could be performing in the 51,000-seat stadium.
When news of the press conference first broke, Taylor Swift was an immediate thought. The superstar is still on her massive Eras Tour that has grossed more than $1 billion, and it’s been nine years since she last performed in Utah.
But Swift told fans at a Liverpool, England, concert over the summer that the tour would end its run at the end of the year.
“This is the very first time I’ve ever acknowledged to myself and admitted that this tour is gonna end in December,” Swift said during the show back in June, per the Charlotte Observer.
But the Charlotte Observer also points to an even more likely reason the mystery artist isn’t Swift: Her tours are promoted by companies that are competitors of Live Nation.
So Swift is (most likely) out of the equation.
An online search of recent Live Nation press conferences sheds some light on who the mystery artist could be.
Earlier this year, a special press conference in Chicago announced a major concert: Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks, according to NBC Chicago.
On that same day, another press conference took place in St. Louis. The big announcement: Billy Joel and Sting, per Fox 2.
A few weeks later, in partnership with the Cleveland Browns, Live Nation announced a huge concert in Ohio: Billy Joel and Rod Stewart, per Cleveland 19 News.
The common denominator: Billy Joel.
Joel would make sense — the Piano Man released “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first single in nearly two decades, earlier this year and performed it for the first time at the Grammys, NPR reported.
“I’m late, but I’m here right now / Is there still time for forgiveness?” the 75-year-old singer-songwriter asks. “Did I wait too long to turn the lights back on?”
An appearance from Joel in Salt Lake City would continue the musician’s return to the spotlight. And based on his other special announcements, he would likely have another big name with him — both Sting and Rod Stewart, who are performing with him this year, happen to be on tour next year.
Joel’s last Utah concert came seven years ago at Salt Lake City’s Delta Center. That concert on Nov. 29, 2017, marked 10 years to the day that he’d last performed a solo show at the arena, the Deseret News reported.
“If there were any fans at the show upset with the singer for neglecting the Beehive State for so long, Joel offered a sincere apology via a comprehensive and engaging show that took Utah fans on a journey through his dynamic career,” I wrote for the Deseret News at the time. “Let’s just hope his next performance won’t be in 2027.”
Of course, there’s a chance it isn’t Joel.
And there are a handful of big-name artists who are worth calling in the media. At the top of that list: Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney (the former Beatle’s first time performing in Utah was 2010, per The Paul McCartney Project).
While Elton John is another huge name, the Rocket Man recently concluded his yearslong farewell tour that also made a stop in Salt Lake City five years ago.
A number of big acts have performed at Rice-Eccles Stadium over the years, but country music has been an emphasis in recent years — Garth Brooks performed there three times from the summer of 2021 through the summer of 2022. Luke Combs performed there earlier this year, and, most recently, country greats George Strait and Chris Stapleton co-headlined at the Salt Lake stadium.
And then there’s U2, which has performed at Rice-Eccles Stadium twice — the last time being in 2011. The band recently concluded its Las Vegas Sphere residency, so perhaps a stop in Salt Lake City is part of Bono’s next chapter.
Whoever the mystery artist(s) is, though, Live Nation seems to be banking on at least this much: It’s going to generate a lot of buzz.