Believe it or not, it's been 20 years since the Philadelphia Eagles left Veterans Stadium behind and moved into Lincoln Financial Field across the street.
But the new digs haven't been only for the gridiron.
The 69,879-seat stadium has hosted 46 major concerts over the past two decades, book-ended by Bruce Springsteen's "The Promised Land" opener on Aug. 8, 2003, and Luke Combs' "The Kind of Love We Make" closer on July 29, its most recent show.
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Here's a breakdown of The Linc's repeat headliners over the years, followed by a complete list of rockers, pop stars, rappers, country singers and comedians who have hosted a show on Philly's biggest stage.
Taylor Swift (10 headlining concerts)
Sure, Taylor Swift's home state shows are always an event, but there haven't been any bigger than when "The Eras Tour" pulled into Lincoln Financial Field for a trio of concerts this past spring, drawing overflow crowds who danced (and sang) the night away in stadium's parking lots.
The epic 45-song, 3½-hour career-spanning shows showed she has the same stamina as another longtime Philadelphia stadium favorite with extra-long setlists: Bruce Springsteen.
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Swift made her Linc debut in the summer of 2011 with a 19-song set, encoring with "Fifteen" and "Love Story" from 2008's "Fearless." She returned for back-to-back shows in the summer of 2013, the spring of 2015 and again in the summer of 2018.
Kenny Chesney (10 concerts)
Tied with Swift for the most concerts in the Linc's history is Kenny Chesney, king of made-for-summer country music. His most recent was last summer when he put on a 25-song show with Dan + Shay, Old Dominion and Carly Pearce opening.
He's racked up Swiftian numbers at the Linc with concerts in the summers of 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011 before spring shows in 2013 and 2014. He later came back for a pair of summer shows in 2015 and 2016 and a spring shindig in 2018.
The 2018 show was a special one: Members of the championship Eagles team appeared on stage with the Super Bowl trophy for the football-themed song "The Boys of Fall."
Beyoncé (4 concerts)
Like Swift's three-show run in the spring, Beyoncé's Linc return this year was next level.
Queen B brought her "Renaissance WorldTour" there last month and was met with a stadium full of frenzied fans for her own marathon 3½-hour show, which included nearly every song from last year's "Renaissance" album.
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Before this year's spectacle, she began her Lincoln Financial Field run with spring and fall shows in 2016 before co-headlining with husband Jay-Z in the summer of 2018.
Bruce Springsteen (3 concerts)
Springsteen hosted the first concerts at The Linc, a three-night stand starting 20 years ago on Aug. 9, 2003.
For most fans, it was their first time inside the sparkling new stadium, making it more than just a night with The Boss. It was a preview of a beloved home field.
By the final night, Springsteen gave a nod to the City of Brotherly Love and broke out his heartbreaker "Streets of Philadelphia" from the 1993 Tom Hanks/Denzel Washington film "Philadelphia."
One Direction (3 concerts)
Before Harry Styles was packing stadiums worldwide, he did the same at the Linc as a member of the British boy band One Direction.
Since their 2015 breakup, Styles has headlined Philly twice, but not at Lincoln Financial Field. Both shows, in 2018 and 2021, were held at the nearby Wells Fargo Center. Odds are that his next show here would be at the bigger Linc, considering his burgeoning popularity.
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One Direction's shows at the Linc were held in the summer of 2014 (back-to-back nights) and the summer of 2015 when they broke out the theme to "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" during their encore, referencing Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff's Philadelphia roots.
Ed Sheeran (2 concerts)
Ed Sheeran may have headlined the Linc only twice ― this past spring and in the fall of 2018 ― but his story doesn't end there.
He also opened a pair of shows for Swift in the summer of 2013 before he was big enough to headline on his own.
His June 3 show earlier this year was split between full band sets and stretches where Sheeran performed some of his biggest hits solo, something you don't usually see at major outdoor stadium shows.
U2 (2 concerts)
Since U2 is such a stadium spectacle act, it may come as a surprise that they have only headlined the Linc twice: the "U2 360°" tour in July 2011 and "The Joshua Tree" tour in 2017, commemorating the 30th anniversary of their landmark album.
Bono & Co. performed the entire "Joshua Tree" album in order that night, sandwiched between a set of greatest hits.
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In 2011, the band closed its show by singing "Happy Birthday" a few days early to honor former South African President and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela.
Coldplay (2 shows)
Chris Martin and his band started playing in Philly venues such as the Electric Factory and the Theatre of Living Arts on South Street in the early 2000s.
Since then they have got, uh, a bit more popular. Last spring they performed their second show at the Linc on their "Music of the Spheres" tour. That came nearly six years after their debut in the summer of 2016 as part of the "A Head Full of Dreams" tour.
Martin went off script near the end of that show, eschewing the setlist and performing Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia" solo with an acoustic guitar in hand.
Luke Combs (2 concerts)
Country singer Luke Combs made his Linc debut in recent weeks with a pair of shows July 28 and 29, bringing his mix of country and Southern soul to South Philadelphia under the stars. (On the 28th, heavy rains dampened the festivities a bit, causing a mid-show pause.)
Combs had headlined Philadelphia only once before, back in 2019 with a Wells Fargo Center show before his popularity quickly grew, creating a need for a larger venue.
"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" theme played in the stadium before Combs walked on stage each night for sets that included his chart-topping cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car."
Complete list of Linc headliners
- July 29, 2023, Luke Combs
- July 28, 2023, Luke Combs
- July 12, 2023, Beyoncé
- June 16, 2023, Billy Joel & Stevie Nicks
- June 3, 2023, Ed Sheeran
- May 14, 2023, Taylor Swift
- May 13, 2023, Taylor Swift
- May 12, 2023, Taylor Swift
- Aug. 31, 2022, Rammstein
- July 14, 2022, The Weeknd
- June 18, 2022, Kenny Chesney
- July 23, 2019, The Rolling Stones
- September 27, 2018, Ed Sheeran
- July 30, 2018, Jay-Z & Beyoncé
- July 14, 2018, Taylor Swift
- July 13, 2018, Taylor Swift
- June 9, 2018, Kenny Chesney
- June 18, 2017, U2
- May 12, 2017, Metallica
- Sept. 29, 2016, Beyoncé
- July 14, 2016, Guns N’ Roses
- June 25, 2016, Kenny Chesney
- June 5, 2016, Beyoncé
- Sept. 1, 2015, One Direction
- Aug. 30, 2015, Kevin Hart
- July 11, 2015, Kenny Chesney
- June 13, 2015, Taylor Swift
- June 12, 2015, Taylor Swift
- Aug. 15, 2014, Luke Bryan
- Aug. 14, 2014, One Direction
- Aug. 13, 2014, One Direction
- July 20, 2013, Taylor Swift
- July 19, 2013, Taylor Swift
- June 8, 2013, Kenny Chesney
- June 16, 2012, Kenny Chesney
- Aug. 6, 2011, Taylor Swift
- July 14, 2011, U2
- June 18, 2011, Kenny Chesney
- June 27, 2009, Kenny Chesney
- July 19, 2008, Kenny Chesney
- June 23, 2007, Kenny Chesney
- Aug. 11, 2003, Bruce Springsteen
- Aug. 9, 2003, Bruce Springsteen
- Aug. 8, 2003, Bruce Springsteen
Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online/The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and Twitter (@ryancormier).
