Smashing Pumpkins, Chris Stapleton to Headline Bipartisan America250 July 4 Concert

The Smashing Pumpkins and Chris Stapleton are set to co-headline a July 4 concert hosted by bipartisan initiative America250, following the controversy around President Donald Trump’s axed Freedom 250 celebration .

The “America’s Block Party” event, hosted by Queen Latifah, is due to take place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Tickets go on sale at 10am PDT today (Tuesday June 16), priced at $17.76. You’ll be able to buy yours here .

- READ MORE: Billy Corgan on his new podcast The Magnificent Others : “I’d like to celebrate people in the culture who are misunderstood”

An official listing describes the upcoming show as “a once-in-a-generation celebration – and a nationwide call to give back”, adding: “The Los Angeles event will anchor  Am erica’s Block Party , a sea-to-shining-sea celebration connecting major cities, local communities, and viewers across the country.”

Stapleton and Smashing Pumpkins appear at the top of the line-up, with more acts still to be confirmed.

The day is scheduled kick off at 3pm in Block Party Village, where attendees can enjoy free food, drinks, face painting, games and giveaways before the headline concert, fireworks, and “a drone spectacular”.

It will benefit  Giv ing 4th , an initiative created to make July 4 an annual day of charitable giving in the US. All proceeds after fees of every ticket sold will be donated to Feeding America , the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organisation.

> America, we have an announcement: @ChrisStapleton and the @SmashingPumpkin will perform at America's Block Party concert benefiting Giving 4th at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on July 4th, hosted by @IAMQUEENLATIFAH . Tickets are $17.76 and go on sale June 16 at… pic.twitter.com/lBq8Zlte3x — America250 (@America250) June 15, 2026

A total of 5,000 complimentary tickets will be donated to veterans and active-duty service members in honour of their service. Those eligible can also claim tickets directly through  VetTix .

“As we celebrate our 250th anniversary, we have an opportunity to bring Americans together around the values that continue to unite us,” said America250 chair Rosie Rios, who was a top Treasury official under Barack Obama’s administration

“Giving back represents the best part of the American spirit, and through Giving 4th, we’re aiming to establish a new, nationwide season of giving, anchored around July 4.”

Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin explained: “Playing the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on July 4 for America’s 250th is a rare kind of moment.

“We’ve always believed in the power of music to be a unifying principle. It brings people together and allows them to express themselves in a forum that has a common destination – and it allows all of us the opportunity to participate in a celebration that has meaning, history, and impact.”

You can find more information here .

America250 was established by the nonpartisan US Semiquincentennial Commission in 2016 to oversee official planning for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Trump’s Freedom 250 initiative was not launched until January 2025.

The POTUS’ Freedom 250 event was announced last month , forming part of The Great American State Fair in Washington, DC. It was billed as a “once-in-a-generation celebration” that would “unite and showcase all 56 US states and territories in a single World’s Fair-scale event”.

However, Trump was forced to scrap Freedom 250 after many of the acts pulled out, including Morris Day & The Time, Young MC, Milli Vanilli, The Commodores, Poison’s Bret Michaels, and Martina McBride .

Some of the scheduled performers claimed that they were made to believe the show would be non-partisan, with Young MC writing: “The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event.”

Trump subsequently offered to perform at his Freedom 250 event himself after the multiple drop-outs. He has since announced a replacement event, which he called the “rally to end all rallies”, with Lee Greenwood due to perform.

His administration staged the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House last Sunday (June 14). Sheryl Crow has since hit out at the “disgraceful” UFC fight, and condemned the “racist comment” made towards Michelle Obama at the event .

In 2015, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan explained why he thought Trump “fucking up” US politics was “cool” , adding: “He’s forcing a lot of things out in the open, so they can’t control this, whatever that control is, you know?” He compared Trump entering politics to “the music business”, adding: “It’s just like rock’n’roll.”

Corgan then responded to questions surrounding his political stance in 2018 . “I’m a free-market libertarian capitalist,” he said at the time. “I’m not anti-anything except establishment. I find institutions and systems suspicious.”

This came after he made headlines the previous year with remarks that many perceived to be in defence of Trump .

In 2020, Corgan said the “division” seen during that year’s US presidential election was “not helping anybody” .

Meanwhile, the frontman has said Smashing Pumpkins are keen to bring their ‘A Night Of Mellon Collie And Infinite Sadness’ live show to the Las Vegas Sphere . “It’s a no-doubter for us,” he explained. “We just haven’t been asked yet.”

The post Smashing Pumpkins and Chris Stapleton lead line-up for bipartisan America250’s July 4 concert after Trump State Fair controversy appeared first on NME .

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