In August 2000, the first festival in Japan to be held simultaneously in two major cities, Kanto and Kansai, and to feature a complete lineup of artists, this groundbreaking event was held under the festival format. The festival featured Green Day and Blues Explosion as headliners, and brought together artists from Japan and abroad. The legendary band Guns N’ Roses followed with a performance, and many audiences were shocked and experienced what could be called an “incident” in the music industry.
The lineup, the envy of overseas festivals such as Radiohead, Blur, Oasis, Metallica, Linkin Park, Daft Punk, and Queen, is the talk of the town every year, and the number of stages and attraction areas have expanded.
In 2007, the Arctic Monkeys were selected as the headliner, the fastest and youngest ever, and the Black Eyed Peas were invited to headline the first ever hip-hop act at SUMMER SONIC transforming the festival into a world-class festival that perfectly reflects the ever-changing music scene.
In 2019, the 20th anniversary year of SUMMER SONIC, we welcomed B’z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Chainsmokers as headliners. The event recorded attendance of 300,000 people in Tokyo and Osaka.
The 2022 event, held for the first time in three years after the pandemic, was sold out in both East and West Osaka. The festival has successfully proved its high profile as an international festival, and in 2023 it will be the fastest completely sold-out event. This year, as a new challenge, SUMMER SONIC BANGKOK will be held, aiming for a full-scale overseas expansion.