Summer music highlights of 2026

Summer is the time to enjoy live music, indoors and out. Scroll through our gallery of some of 2026’s leading musical acts, featuring images by CBS News photojournalist Jake Barlow and photographers Ed Spinelli and Kirstine Walton.   

Pictured: Bruce Springsteen performed at the United Center in Chicago for his Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour, April 29, 2026.

The Dead Daisies

Legendary vocalist and bassist Glenn Hughes, formerly of Trapeze, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, brought his supergroup The Dead Daisies to the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, Ill., May 30, 2026, for a one-night-only engagement.

In addition to Dead Daisies songs, they performed Deep Purple classics such as “Smoke On the Water,” “Might Just Take Your Life,” and “Stormbringer,” and a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son.”

The Dead Daisies

Doug Aldrich of The Dead Daisies, at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, Ill., May 30, 2026. 

Zakk Sabbath

The Black Sabbath tribute band Zakk Sabbath (fronted by longtime Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, with bassist Jim DeServio and drummer Jeff Fabb) opened for Wylde’s own band Black Label Society, at the Hollywood Casino in Joliet, Ill., May 16, 2026. Their Black Sabbath covers included “Children of the Grave,” “War Pigs,” and “Snowblind.”

Corrosion of Conformity

Guitarist and vocalist Pepper Kennan, of Corrosion of Conformity, performed at Outset in Chicago, May 14, 2026.

The band’s lead guitarist Woody Weatherman told CBS News’ Jake Barlow that their recent album, “Good Man/Bad Man,” was the product of two different designs: “We enjoy playing guitar and writing songs and we [had] such a good time going in lots of different directions, [but] we found ourselves in the same predicament,” he said. “So we had wizard idea to try and split it into two records, and then it gave us a little bit more freedom to keep doing the directions that we wanted to. So, yeah, ‘Good Man/Bad Man,’ two separate worlds, we could drop these songs in this tiny universe or drop these into that other tiny universe, so that’s kind of what we did. It feels like a throwback to the old days. I would do it the same way again.” 

Crobot

Crobot performed on tour with Corrosion of Conformity, at the Outset in Chicago, May 14, 2026. (Pictured: Brandon Yeagley.)

Triumph

The Canadian rock band Triumph performed at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., May 13, 2026. (Pictured: guitarist Rick Emmett.) 

Triumph

Triumph’s Chicago tour stop was originally going to be in a smaller theater in Rosemont, Ill.; it had to be moved to the Allstate Arena because of growing interest and ticket sales.

Drummer Gil Moore (pictured with Rick Emmett) told CBS News’ Jake Barlow that the group’s first tour in 30 years came about thanks to the Edmonton Oilers, who played Triumph’s music during the team’s 2025 Stanley Cup run. “The fans pushed and pushed,” driving them to do the tour, Moore said. “There wouldn’t be a 50th anniversary if it were not for their loyalty.”

Alter Bridge

The rock band Alter Bridge (pictured: Brian Marshall, Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti) played the Salt Shed in Chicago, May 6, 2026. Currently on their What Lies Within Tour, the band played such hits as “Isolation,” “Ghosts of Days Gone By,” and “Addicted to Pain,” as well as songs from their recent eponymous album, including “Silent Divide,” “What Lies Within,” and “Tested and Able.”

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen brought his Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour to Chicago’s United Center on April 29, 2026. In addition to Springsteen classics like “Born to Run,” “Born in the U.S.A.,” “Hungry Heart,” and “Long Walk Home,” he also performed “Streets of Minneapolis,” “Because the Night” (a song he co-wrote with Patti Smith), and a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom.”

Bruce Springsteen

Springsteen and the E Street Band were joined on the tour by Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine). 

Cactus

Drummer Carmine Appice (pictured, center) was one of the founding members of the ’70s rock band Cactus, which back in the day was called “the American Led Zeppelin.” He brought the band’s latest lineup to the Arcada Theater in St. Charles, Ill., April 3, 2026, to promote their album, “Temple of the Blues II.” They were accompanied by the “Cactus All-Stars.”

Joining Appice were (clockwise from upper left): Cactus regulars Artie Dillon and Ed Terry; Rob Caudill; Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal; Pat Travers; Dug Pinnick; Eric Gales; and Billy Sheehan.

Lamb of God

The heavy metal band Lamb of God performed at the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, March 25, 2026. The concert was part of their North American Heaviest Tour of the Year. (Pictured: Lead vocalist Randy Blythe.)

Corrosion of Conformity

Pictured: Bass player Bobby Landgraf of Corrosion of Conformity. 

Be sure to follow us throughout music summer 2026 – and don’t miss out on live music yourself!
     

For more info:

Photographer Jake Barlow (Instagram)

Photographer Ed Spinelli (Instagram)

Photographer Kirstine Walton (Instagram)

      
Edited by senior producer David Morgan.