The 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival took over Las Vegas this previous weekend, with two star-studded nights at T-Mobile Arena and a Daytime Stage filled with rising stars.
Billboard was within the crowd all weekend — masking the A-list motion from Mariah Carey, Childish Gambino and Kelly Clarkson on Friday and Saturday evening and braving the desert warmth Saturday afternoon for red-hot performances from Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny and Logic on the Daytime Stage — however we have been additionally backstage, capturing the moments you did not see in case you have been in Sin City or tuning in to the dwell stream.
One of these backstage moments was with Justin Timberlake (picture above), who opened evening 2 of the competition with an 11-song set, together with a duet with Shawn Mendes on the FutureSex/LoveSounds single “What Goes Around…Comes Around.” Below, discover extra unique backstage images from Vegas, beginning with JT’s duet associate.
Shawn Mendes
In addition to teaming up with one in every of his “all-time idols,” Mendes additionally had his personal solo set, which he kicked off with “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back” and wrapped with a mash-up of Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” and his personal “Treat You Better.”
Dustin Lynch & Carrie Underwood
Along with Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean, Lynch and Underwood represented Nashville in Las Vegas. Underwood hit the primary stage on Saturday evening, the day earlier than it was introduced that her latest album, Cry Pretty, hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, whereas Lynch was the lone nation artist on Saturday’s Daytime Stage, the place he hopped exterior his style to cover Drake’s “God’s Plan.”
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac opened the primary evening and debuted a brand-new lineup on the iHeartRadio stage: Crowded House’s Neil Finn and Tom Petty and Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell hit the stage within the absence of longtime guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. Below, Stevie Nicks and John McVie chat with iHeart exec John Sykes (left).
Jason Aldean & Ludacris
The buddies — who collaborated on Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem (Remix)” again in 2011 — reunited backstage. Ludacris wasn’t listed on the weekend’s lineup, popping up for 2 shock mini-sets Friday evening. Aldean, in the meantime, carried out “Dirt Road Anthem” throughout his set Friday evening, however it was the unique album model, so no Luda cameo.
Rae Sremmurd
The rap duo introduced the vitality to T-Mobile Arena, getting followers and non-fans alike on their toes for “Powerglide” and, in fact, their Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Black Beatles.”
Logic
Logic did double-duty on Saturday, closing out each the Daytime Stage within the early night and shutting down evening 2. For each performances, he introduced out OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder to carry out their new collaboration “One Day.”
5 Seconds of Summer
5SOS held it down on the Daytime Stage, enjoying songs from their newest album Youngblood — together with the title monitor, which simply cracked the Hot 100 top 10 this week — in addition to breakout hits “She Looks So Perfect” and “Amnesia.”
