Jade Lemac is a blueprint example of the new music industry, and she’s taking it by storm. Her performance at Lollapalooza Thursday afternoon was just the next step in her fresh career.
Lemac took the Tito’s stage in Chicago’s Grant Park for one of the annual festival’s very first performances.
Dressed in jean shorts and — impressively for the heat — a long-sleeved denim shirt, plus a Chicago White Sox hat, Lemac danced, twirled and sang her way through the 45-minute set. You would never have guessed this was her first performance at a festival this size.
“The crowd was so interactive and so awesome,” Lemac said. “With sets like these, I kind of just expect myself to get my name out there. … But they were so cool of a crowd. I was really pleased with that.”
Lemac initially gained much of her following through TikTok. Then her 2024 release “Constellations” racked up over 220 million streams on Spotify.
“Constellations is one that will always (get a reaction); I think it’s my biggest song,” Lemac said. “People really love that one.”
But during the set, Lemac also played songs from her upcoming EP, “Running Home,” which releases August 15.
“‘Running Home’ … is more of an upbeat (song), and it had a great reaction,” Lemac said. “And then ‘Sleeping with the Lights On’ is another one that’s coming out. … That one’s a heartbreak song. So I feel like people have really been able to relate with that one.”
Lemac’s Lollapalooza set, though early in the day, had the Tito’s crowd engaged, clapping along even if they didn’t necessarily know her music — though Lemac noted that she was excited to see some fans singing along.
“I was able to go say hi to a lot of them afterwards, and I was able to take some pictures of the people that were in the front,” Lemac said. “I gave them my set list and … they were all so, so sweet.”
Lemac said she hopes fans and new listeners alike are simply able to “feel something” from watching her performances and listening to her music.
“People always are feeling different things,” Lemac said. “They’re in different parts of their life. And so I want everybody to come to my show and be able to feel that, whether that’s, you know, happiness and having fun, or they’re feeling those sad emotions.”
On Friday, August 1, Lemac played a Lollapalooza aftershow at Thalia Hall, supporting Role Model. She said she was excited to see her fans at the show and expressed her gratitude.
“The people that have been supporting me have been so sweet and so awesome and so kind and just like they’re really the best,” she said. “And who doesn’t love Role Model? He’s awesome!”
This fall, Lemac will go on tour with Maren Morris. It’ll be her longest tour yet, another milestone along with this festival.
“It’s gonna be so awesome,” Lemac said. “There’s so many cool venues — I’m just very excited.”
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