Mirroring many other parts of New Orleans in 2025, the city’s music community this year had a lot to celebrate, faced new challenges, mourned losses and used art in acts of defiance and resilience.
Many people ring in the New Year with music-filled partying, but the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street started 2025 with tragedy. In the aftermath, though, buskers and club musicians returning to the French Quarter became emblematic of the city mourning and standing back up. Several local musicians held benefit shows to support those impacted, and Master P, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and Mia X released a song, “New Orleans, Keep Holding On,” to benefit victims’ families.
New Orleans hosted the Super Bowl amid a typically busy Carnival season, and a number of local musicians were incorporated into the marketing, promotion and sponsored events. DJs Mannie Fresh, KLC the Drum Major, DJ Poppa and Legatron Prime were tapped by Apple Music to make mixes highlighting the city’s hip-hop legacy in the week leading up to the game.
And before kickoff, Jon Batiste performed the National Anthem, Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle sang “America the Beautiful,” Ledisi performed “Lift Every Voice,” and there were performances by The Original Pinettes, Harry Connick Jr. and Terence Blanchard. Sill, the massive event wasn’t the wide-reaching economic boon many in the city had hoped for.
Lil Wayne, feeling snubbed after the Super Bowl booked Kendrick Lamar for the halftime show, poked fun at himself in a Cetaphil ad during the game and teased his album “Tha Carter VI” (which was met with tepid reviews when it dropped). Wayne, though, got a chance to have the spotlight when he partnered with The Roots to headline the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival a few months later.
French Quarter Fest, which had expanded its footprint in 2024, hosted another large edition with more than 300 performances across the Quarter and the riverfront.
Jazz Fest again hosted an eight-day festival, with big sets by Wayne and the Roots, Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Lenny Kravitz, Kacey Musgraves, Luke Combs and more and a spotlight on Mexican music and culture. There were large crowds out for many of the headliners, but Jazz Fest 2025 reported a dip in attendance.
The Essence Festival of Culture, also saw performances by big names like Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Boyz II Men, GloRilla and Lauryn Hill. The festival received a lot of criticism following its 2025 edition due to a number of last-minute changes, unclear details, poor sound and late sets (Lauryn Hill didn’t go on until 3 a.m.). New Orleans icon Mia X also had been billed as part of a tribute to Master P — but the parties never agreed to a contract, and she declined to participate.
Attendance for this year’s Essence Fest also was lower, but Essence said it would return to New Orleans in 2026.
Bayou Boogaloo returned to Bayou St. John with sets by Honey Island Swamp Band, glbl wrmng, LSD Clownsystem and more, but it was touch-and-go in the run-up to the festival. Following complaints from some neighbors and pressure from City Council Member Joe Giarrusso, the festival eased back on its footprint in order to secure permits. It’s not yet clear what will happen to the Boogaloo in 2026.
Satchmo Summerfest celebrated its 25th edition — while dealing with some bad weather. Creepy Fest booked more than 50 punk, hardcore, metal and rock bands for its 16th year. The BlackAmericana Fest, which celebrates musicians of color working country and folk, threw a joyous second edition. And NOLA Funk Fest, Crescent City Blues and BBQ, Gretna Fest and the fifth year of NOLA x NOLA filled the fall with a ton of live music.
There were some changes among the city’s live music venues. Gasa Gasa, which had closed in late 2023, re-opened in the spring under ownership that includes founders of the club. The New Orleans Jazz Market was refreshed and re-branded as the Jazz & Blues Market and has booked some recognizable touring jazz, funk and blues bands. And Jimmy’s Music Club, a popular venue in the ’80s, was reborn on Willow Street.
Punk and goth club The Goat briefly closed in November but has reopened under new ownership as The Crypt. Similarly, the Dragon’s Den at the foot of Esplanade quietly reopened this fall as Stellar — and king of bounce HaSizzle is there most Thursdays.
In February, Tank and the Bangas won their first Grammy, bringing home the Best Spoken Word Poetry album award. And in 2026, it’s guaranteed a Louisiana artist will win a Grammy: The Best Regional Roots Music Album category is full of New Orleans artists, including Kyle Roussel, Trombone Shorty with the New Breed Brass Band, Corey Henry and his Treme Funket and Preservation Brass and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The one outlier in the category is “A Tribute to the King of Zydeco,” a tribute album to zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier.
There were dozens of great new albums by local artists, including Galactic with Irma Thomas, Big Freedia (mixing gospel and bounce), Bo Dollis Jr. & The Wild Magnolias, Sabine McCalla, Water Seed and more. And Free Agents Brass Band and Cha Wa both marked the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina this year with album releases. Read more about it here.
Many local musicians were already feeling financially squeezed by inflation and rising housing costs — and the cancellation of federal arts grants has had a local impact. During the fall elections for mayor and city council, two forums focused on ways the next administration could better support New Orleans musicians, artists and culture bearers and grow the city’s music industry.
ICE and Border Patrol’s presence in the city has had a chilling effect — in June, Kenner’s Hispanic Heritage Fest was cancelled out of concerns over immigration enforcement — but many musicians are standing up. In December, more than 300 people in the cultural community, including Big Freedia, PJ Morton and Ani DiFranco, called for an end to Operation Catahoula Crunch.
The music community also lost irreplaceable people this year, including vocalist Lillian Boutte-l’Etienne, funk and soul icon Paul Batiste, bluesman Guitar Lightnin’ Lee and swamp pop legend Tommy McLain. Photographers Pableaux Johnson and Sidney Smith and writer Jeff Hannusch, who all documented the local music scene, also passed away. And Big Freedia’s partner of 20 years, Devon Hurst, himself an artist, died in May.
Looking ahead to 2026, New Orleans already has some idea of what’s coming. Jazz Fest in December announced its 2026 lineup, with performances by Eagles, Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Lorde, David Byrne and more. The Folk Alliance Internation will hold its annual conference here in January. And the city’s musicians will continue to push back against ICE and CBP as those operations continue.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nola.com ’
