Kaskade replaces Ti?sto as Super Bowl's first in-game DJ headliner
Kaskade will be stepping into the Super Bowl LVIII DJ booth on Sunday, replacing previously announced Ti?sto as the first in-game DJ headliner.
The famed EDM and house music producer confirmed the high-profile appearance on Thursday, hours after Ti?sto announced that he was dropping out of the Las Vegas gig due to a family emergency.
"As a kid who grew up in Chicago watching the Super Bowl every year with my family, this chance to actually be part of it is absolutely mind-blowing,” Kaskade tweeted Thursday night. "Las Vegas has been my second home for the past decade, as an architect of creating a landscape that includes House and Dance Music residencies as part of its destination.”
As a kid who grew up in Chicago watching the @NFL Super Bowl every year with my family this chance to actually be part of it is absolutely mind blowing. Las Vegas has been my second home for the past decade, as an architect of creating a landscape that includes House and Dance… pic.twitter.com/UQ9w6cUNyr
— Kaskade (@kaskade) February 9, 2024
The "Escape" and "Believer" hitmaker, whose real name is Ryan Gary Raddon, is among the biggest names in House and EDM music and a stalwart of the club scene in Las Vegas. In 2010, he became the first DJ to secure an exclusive residency there and is currently the headliner at Zouk Nightclub and Ayu Dayclub at Resorts World Las Vegas.
Read more: Super Bowl LVIII: Start time, teams, betting odds and halftime show
Ti?sto — also a nightclub veteran in Sin City — held a residency at Zouk when the resort opened in 2021 and is committed to several other headlining events there this year. On Thursday, the so-called "Godfather of EDM" informed his fans and followers that he was pulling out of the Super Bowl — a gig that involved performing a set during warm-ups and spinning music throughout the big game.
"Me and my team have been preparing something truly special for months, but a personal family emergency is forcing me to return home Sunday morning. It was a tough decision to miss the game, but family always comes first," he tweeted.
Me and my team have been preparing something truly special for months, but a personal family emergency is forcing me to return home Sunday morning. It was a tough decision to miss the game, but family always comes first. Thank you to the @NFL for the collaboration and looking…
— Ti?sto (@tiesto) February 8, 2024
Super Bowl LVIII — another big-game showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers — takes place Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the home of the Raiders, and will be broadcast by CBS (Channel 2 in the Los Angeles market). Kick-off is at 3:30 p.m. PST.
Usher, who also headlined a Las Vegas residency at the Park MGM, will take the stage during the Roc Nation-produced halftime show, a legacy-defining moment for the superstar, romance and R&B.
Read more: Usher brings romance to the biggest stage in America: The Super Bowl
“I’m going to give you the environment to recognize that you have the freedom to be as fun and wild as you can for this night,” the "Yeah" and "You Make Me Wanna" hitmaker recently told The Times.
"While I have you in my care, I give you the freedom to just imagine, have fun, feel sexy, feel as feminine as you can," he added. "My masculinity in that moment is ‘I got you.’ Without holding your hand, I’m holding your hand, by looking at you and talking to you, by singing and saying what I’m saying to you and how I sing it to you, making you feel something. … If that is safety, then hopefully I did something right.”
Times staff writer Marissa Evans contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
