Being on the big stage at Summerfest is a fittingly big task, at least if you want to be successful (looking at you, Trippie Redd). First, you need to fill the American Family Insurance Amphitheater with people. Then, you need to fill it with your performance.
It’s possible to do that with a combination of musical quality and charisma. But it’s usually smart to also have a stage show full of energy and bombast — think Imagine Dragons in 2023 or Pink in 2017. Monday’s announcement would seem to lean in that direction, as Summerfest revealed their fourth amphitheater headliner for the 2026 festival: Muse, who will play the final Thursday, July 2.
The English rock band frequently finds the word “epic” tied to both their studio output and their live shows. Combining a smorgasbord of instrumentation, from synths to strings, has elevated their music to grandiose proportions while contributing to their current string of seven straight albums that debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. charts.
It remains to be seen whether Muse will try to continue that streak in 2026, as rumors of a new record are exactly that at this point. But they did drop a new single a few months ago, so fresh music does seem to be percolating.
For now, you can focus on grabbing tickets to the July 2 show, which will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. this Friday, Nov. 21, online via Ticketmaster and at the amphitheater box office.
Muse artist bio
Muse are Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme. Since forming in 1994, the band has released nine studio albums, selling over 30 million units worldwide. Their latest release, Will of the People debuted at No. 1 in multiple territories, including the U.K. (their seventh consecutive chart-topper), Austria, France, Finland, Italy and Switzerland.
Muse’s previous album, Simulation Theory, also debuted at No. 1 in several countries and followed their 2015 release, Drones, which went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album, the band’s second. In addition, Muse have won an American Music Award, five MTV Europe Music Awards, two Brit Awards, eleven NME Awards and seven Q Awards, among others.
