Austin City Limits announces five new tapings rounding out its landmark Season 52, bringing an eclectic lineup of artists spanning genres and generations—all making their ACL debuts. Rising pop singer-songwriter Bella Kay takes the ACL stage on September 22 with songs from her debut album My Reckless Abandon; legendary jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval arrives on September 25 with highlights and music from his new album SANGÚ; acclaimed GRAMMY-nominated troubadour Jesse Welles appears October 8; GRAMMY-winning British singer-songwriter Lola Young takes the ACL stage on October 9; and indie-rock favorites Bleachers make their ACL debut on October 11 with songs from their latest album everyone for ten minutes. The upcoming tapings bring a dynamic mix of emerging voices, groundbreaking artists and musical legends to the longest-running music series in television history.
At just 20, Texas-born singer-songwriter Bella Kay has emerged as one of pop’s most emotionally resonant new voices, channeling heartbreak, isolation, racial identity and resilience into fearless, deeply personal songs. Her newly released debut album, My Reckless Abandon, marks a defining new chapter for the young artist, tracing a journey of self-acceptance and introspection through turbulent highs and lows. Executive produced by Idarose (Becky G, Suki Waterhouse, Joji), the album blends hazy alternative pop, cinematic guitar and bedroom-born songwriting, with Bella’s hauntingly timeless voice at the center. “My Reckless Abandon is an album about all my thoughts—the good, bad, confusing, obsessive, honest, and beautiful ones,” says Bella. “It’s cathartic to share this album with the world. When people listen to it, I hope they recognize themselves and their own experiences.” After releasing a trio of breakout EPs in quick succession—sick to my stomach, a couple minutes out and are you mad at me?—through late 2025 and early 2026, Bella’s ascent has been fueled by the viral success of “The Sick,” an unblinking ballad about hard truths and lost causes. The song has surpassed 220 million streams and generated more than 2.7 billion TikTok views. Her momentum accelerated with a couple minutes out, featuring the platinum-certified “iloveitiloveitiloveit,” an earworm about throwing romantic caution to the wind that earned an American Music Awards nomination for Song of the Summer, landed on the Billboard Hot 100, and has amassed more than 493 million streams and 3.5 billion views across 1.3 million TikTok creates. Rolling Stone praised the young artist’s “grit” and called her debut “a true capsule of her coming-of-age experience,” while NYLON declared, “Bella Kay is taking the indie-rock sound and flipping it on its head.” Her rise has translated to the stage as well, with her North American Reckless Tour selling out every date following sold-out headlining tours across North America, Europe and the U.K., further cementing her transition from viral breakout to global touring artist. This fall, Bella will join Noah Kahan on his U.K. and Ireland arena tour, marking her largest performances to date.
Arturo Sandoval is one of the most respected and renowned musicians of our time. A virtuoso trumpeter, pianist, composer, bandleader, and fearless innovator, his artistry has captivated millions around the globe. His live performances are the stuff of legend—he has lit up the stage at the Oscars, GRAMMY Awards and Billboard Awards, dazzling audiences with breathtaking technique and sheer joy. The accolades match the legend: 10 GRAMMY Awards, six Billboard Awards, an Emmy Award, the Hispanic Heritage Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, bestowed by President Obama, a Kennedy Center Honor, and a Latin GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award. A protégé of legendary jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, Sandoval is one of the world’s foremost entertainers, having spent a lifetime redefining what is possible on the trumpet and far beyond. His collaborators form a dazzling constellation of stars, including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, Celia Cruz, Plácido Domingo, John Williams, Alicia Keys, Pharrell Williams, Ariana Grande, among many others. His remarkable life story—escaping political oppression in Cuba to achieve international acclaim—is a testament to the power of music to break barriers. The Washington Post raves, “The music of Arturo Sandoval is what freedom sounds like.” A tireless creative force, Sandoval’s new album, SANGÚ, finds the maestro at his most fearless and deeply rooted. A vibrant musical statement of ancestry, artistic freedom and groove, the album returns to the electrifying pulse of Afro-Cuban rhythm, where ancestral spirit, raw groove and masterful collaboration collide. SANGÚ draws on the Afro-Cuban traditions, Cuban phrasing, bebop fire, funk and fearless improvisation that have shaped Sandoval’s singular musical language, while pushing his sound into thrilling new territory. Both timeless and strikingly modern, SANGÚ is a powerful contemporary statement from a living legend who continues to evolve, explore and make music on his own terms.
When you listen to Jesse Welles, you can practically hear the veil between lie and truth being lifted. The Ozark, Arkansas, singer, songwriter and guitarist has emerged as a singular voice in folk and Americana, pairing plainspoken lyrics with rock ‘n’ roll attitude and an unflinching willingness to address the world around him. In 2024, Welles began self-filming performances beneath power lines in the Arkansas woods, capturing the naked intensity of his songwriting on a standard smartphone camera. The performances sparked a grassroots phenomenon, with viral anthems including “War Isn’t Murder,” “The Poor,” “That Can’t Be Right,” and “United Health” attracting millions of followers and nearly one billion total views and streams. Welles’s breakneck pace has continued: over two years, he released eight full-length albums and dozens of songs, while earning a remarkable four 2026 GRAMMY Award nominations. He ia also nominated for “Artist of the Year” at the 2026 Americana Awards and received the association’s prestigious “Spirit of Americana Award” for Free Speech in 2025. He has collaborated with kindred spirits, including Joan Baez, Billy Strings, Mt. Joy, Margo Price and Sierra Ferrell, while his music has drawn praise from Vulture, Rolling Stone, NPR, Billboard and CBS News, which urged listeners wondering whether folk music is still relevant to “take a listen to Jesse Welles.” His latest album, Masks Off, continues Welles’s tradition of confronting the moment with candor, humor and hope. Produced with Eddie Spear (Zach Bryan, Sam Barber), the album explores themes of collective unrest, abuse of power, I.C.E. raids, and technopagans, while also revealing the introspective and personal side of his songwriting. It pairs these new reflections with studio versions of fan-favorite protest songs that have become staples of his live set. A road-tested performer who logged more than 280 shows in a year, Welles continues to share truths—whether confronting the brazenness of society’s “haves” or offering more intimate reflections on life. “I’m still living where I was living, I’m still doing what I was doing, and I’m still wearing the same jeans that I was two years ago,” he says. “I’m still putting out music as fast as I can write it. I haven’t changed.”
25-year-old British singer-songwriter Lola Young makes her Austin City Limits debut following a meteoric run that has transformed her into one of contemporary alternative pop’s most compelling voices. With a South London accent and talent in spades, Young signaled her arrival with the 2025 breakthrough anthem “Messy,” from her acclaimed sophomore album This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway. An acerbic, whip-smart reckoning with both a toxic lover’s judgments and her own conflicting personality, “Messy” resonated with millions, particularly a generation drawn to Young’s heroically confessional lyrics and unflinching explorations of mental health and the messiness of being human. “‘Messy’ is the song that changed my life,” says Young. She earned two 2026 GRAMMY nominations, including Best New Artist, and took home her first GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Solo Performance. Her stripped-back GRAMMY performance of the megahit—just her voice and piano—captured the raw honesty and theatricality that have become hallmarks of her artistry. Young’s extraordinary rise continued with five 2026 BRIT Award nominations and a Breakthrough Artist win, following her 2025 Ivor Novello Rising Star Award. Her acclaimed follow-up album, I’m Only F**king Myself, finds Young digging even deeper into the contradictions of her inner world, exploring self-sabotage, addiction, sexual liberation, toxic relationships, romantic longing and existential despair with the lacerating honesty that has earned her a devoted global following. Mostly written and produced with longtime collaborators Manuka and SOLOMONOPHONIC (Brockhampton, SZA), the album finds Young turning deeply private struggles into blisteringly candid songs. On “D£aler,” a deceptively sunny melody masks a meditation on self-destructive behavior, while throughout the album her sharp lyrical zingers and powerhouse vocals illuminate the complicated spaces between vulnerability and defiance. Rolling Stone hails Young as “one of pop’s most fiercely honest songwriters, transmitting messy truths with a powerhouse voice.” Young has built a career on saying the things others might be afraid to utter out loud. Her music is strikingly sincere, brash, funny and painfully human—a rare combination that has made her one of the genre’s most original new stars—with a voice impossible to mistake and a willingness to tell the truth, however messy, that has become her greatest strength.
Led by acclaimed songwriter, producer and musician Jack Antonoff, Bleachers bring their singular brand of emotionally charged rock to the Austin City Limits stage with highlights from their fifth studio album, everyone for ten minutes. Antonoff’s connection to music began as a teenager in small-town New Jersey, where he spent more than a decade playing VFW halls, anarchist bookstores and small clubs with his early bands Outline and Steel Train. “We must have played 250 shows a year, for five to ten years straight,” Antonoff recalls. “And it was magical. It left me with a massive love of being a touring artist.” Those years of relentless touring instilled in him a lifelong devotion to the live experience—one that remains at the heart of Bleachers. The Jersey-bred band emerged in 2014, giving Antonoff a vehicle for his own songwriting and lead vocals as he simultaneously became one of the music industry’s most sought-after producers and songwriters. Over the past decade, Bleachers have evolved from intimate club shows to headlining Madison Square Garden while cultivating one of music’s most devoted fan communities. At its heart, however, is the intimate relationship between the mighty six-strong band and their audience. Antonoff describes that connection as the “lifeblood” of Bleachers, with fans who feel less like spectators than part of the family. “There’s this air in the room when we play shows that these are the people that get me, because it’s true, they do,” he says. “We’re together through a lot of things.” Recorded at New York’s legendary Electric Lady Studios, everyone for ten minutes moves between shimmering pop-soul, harmony-laden folk-rock and the sax-assisted New Jersey sound that has become synonymous with Bleachers. Though the album occasionally peers into darker territory, Antonoff describes it as an essentially optimistic record, reflecting his enduring belief in the power of art. “Usually I find myself pretty hopeful,” he says. “Even right now, I have a lot of hope, specifically in art.” With deeply personal songs, irresistible live energy and a fanbase bound by a shared sense of belonging, Bleachers bring their electrifying presence to their Austin City Limits debut, marking a natural meeting of one of music’s most passionate live acts with television’s most iconic live music stage.
We’re thrilled to welcome these stellar acts to the ACL stage. Want to be part of the audience? Information on how to enter a giveaway to obtain free passes to attend the tapings will be posted one week prior to each taping. Follow @acltv on Instagram, Facebook, X/Twitter and TikTok for updates.
