
One of the reasons that 97X Next Big Thing has always been such a hit is because once in a while, a non-headlining act would actually go onto headline their own major shows, making the festival live up to its name (Thirty Seconds to Mars was an opener at the 2009 iteration).
A few weeks following its most recent NBT appearance, where the band served as opener for Twenty One Pilots, Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” blew up online, leading to over three billion Spotify streams and a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist (Olivia Rodrigo ended up taking it home).
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This article appears in Jun 12-18, 2025.


