It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and iHeartRadio kicked off the holiday season with their annual 102.7 KIIS FM Jingle Ball, presented by Capital One, at the Forum on December 4. Los Angeles was the second stop of the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour 2021 and featured iconic performers including Ed Sheeran, BTS, Doja Cat, Lil Nas X, The Kid LAROI, Saweetie, Tate McRae, Bazzi, Dixi D’Amelio, surprise guest Annita and Black Eyed Peas.
K-pop legend BTS opened the show with their worldwide hits “Butter” and “Dynamite.” Dixie D’Amelio followed with an insane performance of “Psycho” and her Christmas song “Naughty List” and surprised guests by bringing out her sister Charli to dance with her backup dancers. Tate McRae sang her heart out with mesmerizing renditions of “Bad Ones”, “Stupid” and “You Broke Me First.” Bazzi wowed the crowd with his hits “Paradise”, “I.F.L.Y.” and “Mine.”
Saweetie took it one step further and threw out Christmas gifts to the crowd during her performance of “Icy Chain” and gave a shoutout to the iconic Doja Cat before singing “Best Friend.” Ed Sheeran holi-dazed the audience while he sang his new single “Shivers” along with “Shape of You” and performed his latest song “Merry Christmas” for the first time ever. Doja Cat sleighed her set and brought the crowd to their feet as she belted out “Say So”, “Kiss Me More” and “Need to Know.” The Kid LAROI dedicated his performance of “Go” to the late Juice Wrld and ended with “Stay” and “Without You.” Lil Nas X made the crowd come alive with his powerful set featuring “Industry Baby”, “Montero” and “Old Town Road.” Doja Cat joined him on stage during their new single “Scoop.” Black Eyed Peas closed the show with “Where is the Love”, “Boom Boom Pow”, “Pump It Harder” and “I Gotta Feeling.”
The national iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour is the Christmas season’s biggest annual music event that captures the holiday spirit of the iHeartRadio app. The tour stops in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta and ends in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale.
For each Jingle Ball ticket purchased, $1.00 was donated to The Ryan Seacrest Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring today’s youth through entertainment and education focused initiatives.
Celebrity guests in attendance included Becca Tilley, Bethany Joy Lenz, Clayton Echard, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, JoJo Siwa, Kendall Long, McKenna Grace, Michelle Young, Olivia Jade, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sofia Carson, Tamra Judge, Teddi Mellencamp, and Tori Spelling.
By Kinya Claiborne & Thy Nguyen, STYLE & SOCIETY
