New Orleans Jazz Festival 2019 Lineup Rumors: 7 Headliner Predictions

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival always manages to nab some major headlining artists, but as the 2019 event doubles as its 50th anniversary festival, the lineup will probably be even bigger than it has been in the past.

To ensure that’s the case, the festival’s already announced an additional event day, bringing the total to eight days of musical fun. The next announcement set to be made is the official lineup of who’s performing during the two weekends — April 25-28 and May 2-5 — and that arrives on Tuesday.

Before that day comes, though, let’s take a look at some of the rumors and guesses going around, on Reddit and the Jazz Fest Forum, of what big names might be performing during the 2019 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Rolling Stones

The Stones are heading out on their No Filter tour at the end of April and will be busy during the first weekend of the event, but they’ll be free from April 29 through May 6, during which the second weekend will be happening. Besides the tour gap, fans are pretty sure the band will be making a stop at the festival because Mick Jagger posted a video to his Facebook page of him singing their tour stops and he included New Orleans, right after Houston (April 28) and before Glendale (May 7).

The date isn’t on their official tour page, which means it was probably supposed to be a secret because the festival lineup hadn’t been announced yet, but he let some of the details slip.

Paul McCartney

The Beatles alum is going on tour later this year in support of his new album, “Egypt Station,” and his first stop in the United States arrives on May 23 in, you guessed it, New Orleans at the Smoothie King Center. While that stop isn’t during one of the two festival weekends, he has a break after his March 30 show in Brazil and this late-May New Orleans stop, giving him plenty of time to make an earlier stop in the city for a festival performance.

Taylor Swift

The 29-year-old artist finished up her Reputation tour and released a Netflix documentary all about it on New Year’s Eve, meaning she’s ready to start a new chapter in 2019, and that could possibly include a performance during the festival’s 50th anniversary event.

Dave Matthews Band

This band is almost always touring in the United States, but they’ve yet to announce any dates in the country for 2019. After releasing their new album, “Come Tomorrow,” last year, they’re set to perform shows in Europe, from February to the start of April. DMB’s last show on the tour is on April 6, which means they could easily come back to the States for either of the Jazz Fest weekends.

Alanis Morissette

The singer-songwriter wrapped up her 2018 tour and performed a one-off show for the One Love Malibu fundraiser event in December, which means she’s free to do this year’s event and she’s already in the single-show mindset.

Elton John

Currently on his farewell tour, this is the perfect time for John to pull out all the stops and fit in as many unique shows as possible. And one of those just might be in New Orleans. He has a break from mid-March to May, making him available for the first weekend of Jazz Fest.

Phil Collins

The English artist has been on his Not Dead Yet Tour since 2017, including a North American leg last year, but he has a gap in his tour schedule in 2019. He has his Oceania dates this month and next, but then doesn’t start up again until June in Europe. That gives him a large window to make this rumor come true and do some shows in the United States — or, more specifically, a show in New Orleans at the end of April or start of May.

Find out if any of these rumored 2019 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival performers will actually be part of the official lineup when it’s announced on Tuesday.