Earth, Wind & Fire Says Sabrina Carpenter ‘Did Her Homework’ to Pull Off Lollapalooza Cameo in Under 24 Hours
The band joined the pop star during her headlining set to sing "Let's Groove" and "September."
One of the most memorable moments of this year’s Lollapalooza — Earth, Wind & Fire joining Sabrina Carpenter as a surprise guest — came together in less than 24 hours, according to member Philip Bailey.
Related
In a post-festival interview with Vulture published Tuesday (Aug. 5), the frontman revealed that his band only had a day’s notice before their big moment on stage, with Carpenter’s team reaching out to the 1970s/80s icons with an invitation, flying them into Chicago on a private plane and hosting them for rehearsals all within a 24-hour time period. “We had to really turn this thing around,” Bailey told the publication.
“We hopped a plane at seven in the morning, went in, and had the rehearsal,” he continued. “It was very quick and kind of sketchy. I was almost concerned about it. But by that evening, they had dialed everything in, and [Carpenter] did her homework on what verses she was going to take. We went out there and floated on all that energy.”
“She’s very cordial, very kind, and very approachable,” Bailey noted of the Gen Z singer, whose work he hadn’t previously heard aside from smash hit “Espresso.” “Her energy and our energy were very compatible and complementary to one another. How she puts her show together, in terms of how it accelerates and builds, was fantastic.”
The interview comes three days after Earth, Wind & Fire took the stage with Carpenter, who closed out the entire 2025 festival by headlining the last of its four days on Sunday (Aug. 3). The other headliners included Tyler, the Creator, Rufus du Sol and Olivia Rodrigo, while Doechii, Gracie Abrams, KATSEYE and dozens of other artists also performed over the weekend.
During Carpenter’s set, it came as a total surprise to her crowd when — in the middle of her usual setlist of tracks from Billboard 200-topping album Short n’ Sweet — Earth, Wind and Fire’s “Let’s Groove” started playing over the speakers. “We can just let loose, right? We can just groove,” the Girl Meets World alum said moments before the soul singers walked out on stage. “I thought, ‘Why not bring out my friends from Chicago?’ Give it up for Earth, Wind & Fire!'”
The musicians went on to perform “Let’s Groove” and “September” together. Summarizing the whole experience, Bailey added to Vulture, “We were honored to be asked and very appreciative to her and to her fans for embracing these moments we were able to share.”
Carpenter is now gearing up to release her seventh studio album, Man’s Best Friend, on Aug. 29, following a whirlwind year of breakout success thanks to Short n’ Sweet. So far, fans have only gotten to hear one of the songs on the LP — “Manchild,” which dropped in June and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — but the vocalist did recently unveil the full tracklist.
What's Your Reaction?
