Iconic ’70s Band Got 24 Hours’ Notice Before Surprise Lollapalooza Performance originally appeared on Parade.
Earth, Wind & Fire wowed fans with a surprise performance during Sabrina Carpenter‘s Lollapalooza set on Sunday, August 3 — and now its been revealed that they only had 24 hours to prepare.
During her set, Carpenter surprised festivalgoers by bringing out the iconic band to join her on stage to perform their hit songs “Let’s Groove” and “September.”
According to Philip Bailey, the group’s lead singer since 1972, Carpenter’s agent came up with the idea for the surprise performance. However, there was a major time crunch involved, so much so that Bailey was initially skeptical that they made the right decision when they agreed to perform.
“It was one of those kinds of things that happened in 24 hours, he recalled to Vulture. “We had to really turn this thing around.”
The band was in Detroit, Michigan for a concert on Saturday, August 2 and had two days off before their next gig in the northern Michigan town of Interlochen.
Lollapalooza, held in Chicago — the group’s hometown — was luckily a short flight from both of the group’s Michigan tour stops.
“They sent a private plane for us and our entourage,” Bailey said. “We hopped a plane at seven in the morning, went in, and had the rehearsal. It was very quick and kind of sketchy. I was almost concerned about it. But by that evening, they had dialed everything in, and she did her homework on what verses she was going to take. We went out there and floated on all that energy.”
The song choices of “Let’s Groove” and “September” were an easy decision because they “always keep the party rocking,” although Bailey said Carpenter was well-versed in the band’s deeper discography during their brief time together. She later wrote on Instagram that Earth, Wind & Fire “raised me on the greatest songs of all time; true soul moving timeless music.”
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Prior to their collaboration, Bailey was only familiar with Carpenter’s hit “Espresso,” yet was still very impressed with the pop star.
“She’s very cordial, very kind, and very approachable,” Bailey said. “We both greeted each other warmly, but we didn’t have time to talk about anything. Everybody was on a tight schedule. We didn’t even have time to run over the performance thoroughly. There were things that weren’t right during the run-through, so my people stayed there and we trusted that they would get all that stuff ready in due time.”
Despite the time crunch, Bailey feels confident that their performance together was a major success.
“Sometimes things work, and oftentimes they don’t,” Bailey added. “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. Where she chose to put our segment was perfect.”
Iconic ’70s Band Got 24 Hours’ Notice Before Surprise Lollapalooza Performance first appeared on Parade on Aug 5, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 5, 2025, where it first appeared.
