Stray Kids Creates HISTORY, Becomes First K-Pop Artist To Headline Brazil's Biggest Music Festival; Fans Call It 'Unreal'

Stray Kids have become the first K-pop artist to headline the Rock in Rio festival. While the news leaves its fans immensely proud of their idols, it adds another feather to the cap of the boy band. The

large-scale music festival is scheduled to be held from September 4 to 7 and 11 to 13, 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Stray Kids will perform on September 11.

Stray Kids at Rock in Rio festival

The news came through on November 26 when the official account of the festival used its member Hyunjin's emoji to tease that Stray Kids will be headlining Brazil's biggest music fiesta.

This makes Stray Kids the first K-pop artist to headline five different international music festivals, the most for any in history. They've previously headlined Lollapalooza Paris in July 2023; I-Days Milano and BST Hyde Park London in July 2024, and Lollapalooza Chicago in August 2024.

Fans react

Fans have ever since been flooding social media with exciting reactions. One user wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "Stray Kids becoming the first K Pop act to headline Rock in Rio is unreal Global pioneers." Another fan wrote, "i’m not from brazil but i’m pretty sure this is a very impressive headliner… congratulations oh my gosh from lollapalooza, hyde park now rock in rio !!!"

Stray Kids at international music festivals

Rock in Rio is regarded as one of the world's largest music festivals. It started in Rio de Janeiro in 1985 and has since been held in Lisbon, Portugal; Madrid, Spain; and Las Vegas, USA. It has so far seen iconic artists such as Queen, Guns N’ Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Muse headlining the festival. Meanwhile, Stray Kids launched their fourth studio album, KARMA on August 22. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart on September 6, making them the first artist in the chart's 70-year history to debut at No. 1 with seven consecutive works.