With the release of the 2025 Country Thunder Wisconsin lineup comes many thoughts and opinions. For the second year in a row, the popular country festival has failed to meet it’s previous artist standard. The four headliners for 2025 are Cole Swindell, Hardy, Jelly Roll, and Dierks Bentley.
Although these musicians have many fans, they don’t compare to those of the past. Morgan Wallen headlined in 2022, Blake Shelton in 2021, and Luke Combs and Chris Stapelton in 2019. It is true that not every year is packed with A-List country stars, but it seemed as though the festival splurged on at least one high status musician every couple of years.
A possible explanation for this slump could be the competing Chicago country festival Windy City Smokeout, held in the parking lot of United Center. A few headliners for the Chicago festival include Megan Moroney, Jon Pardi, Bailey Zimmerman, and Old Dominion.
Although these past few years of lineups have been disappointing, for me at least, it does not seem as though Country Thunder is “falling off.” While looking at past Country Thunder lineups, I discovered that the festival often recycles performers. It may look as though Windy City Smokeout stole some of the more notable artists for this year, however many of them performed at Country Thunder in the past few years. If the pattern repeats itself, they should be back in Wisconsin in a few years. The lineup archive also taught me that it seems to be completely normal for the festival to go a couple years without a bombshell star.
This year’s headliners may disappoint some fans planning to go the festival, but I am sure that people will still attend and upcoming years will bring more exciting lineups. Nothing can replace the country atmosphere and good times that the festival brings.