John Summit still has “a lot of heads to turn” after response to him headlining Lollapalooza.
The 31-year-old dance music star is topping the bill at this year’s multi-genre festival, with some of the more pure pop fans baffled to see him so high on the line-up.
Speaking to Billboard’s Kristin Robinson for her On the Record podcast John agreed that dance acts have to “prove themselves more than pop artists” when it comes to headlining slots like this.
He said: “Yes, and you still see the comments of all the pop fans being like ‘Who the f*** is John Summit?’
“And I was like, ‘Damn, I thought I was doing pretty well’, but I still have a lot of heads to turn still.
“I’ve kind of touched the pop realm, but I still think I’m just fully in dance music though, because I still haven’t had like, a Billboard [Hot] 100 track or anything.
“They chart in dance music, it’s just a different world.”
The Human hitmaker acknowledged that there are differences in how the dance world works compared to the rest of the music industry.
Recalling the baffled reactions from pop fans, he added: “Then the dance music fans [were] like ‘What are you talking about?’
“We’re just totally in our own world [in dance], which I think is pretty awesome.”
Other headliners over the three-day festival, which kicks off on July 30, include Lorde, Charli XCX, Smashing Pumpkins, Olivia Dean, Jennie, Tate McRae and The xx.
The event will take place at Chicago’s Grant Park, with other acts across the weekend’s diverse lineup including the likes of CMAT, Wet Leg, 5 Seconds of Summer, Zara Larsson, Yungblud, Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard, Cruz Beckham and the Breakers, The Chainsmokers and more.
Headlining Lollapalooza is a special, full circle moment for John, who grew up in Chicago.
Back in 2023, he revealed how seeing dadmau5 at the festival in 2011 inspired him as a producer and artist.
He told Billboard: “I feel like everyone always has that moment when they’re like, ‘Oh my god, this is my genre.’
“That’s when I knew I wanted to be a part of electronic music.”