This weekend, Governors Ball returns to NYC’s Flushing Meadows Corona Park for another packed festival weekend — and the 2025 edition marks its 15th anniversary. Headliners Tyler, the Creator, Olivia Rodrigo, and Hozier are gearing up to create some memorable moments, as will the burgeoning acts who might just have their own breakout sets. As fans prepare for the start to another summer festival season, here’s a look back at some jaw-dropping moments that have defined the celebration.

Chappell Roan Statue of Liberty entrance in 2024

In June of 2024, Chappell Roan was just about to hit a new apex of her career. She had put on a series of viral performances already: NPR’s Tiny Desk, Colbert, Coachella. Little did everyone know that her appearance at Gov Ball would put her over the edge. She entered the stage in a giant apple, painted as the Statue of Liberty and smoking a blunt. It was dramatic, daring and, most importantly, fun. But before she even stole the weekend with both her iconic outfit and stellar performance, her reputation as the summer’s must-catch live show preceded her: aerial shots of the crowd showed a headliner-worthy crowd filing in for her mid-day performance. 

Kanye West’s surprise Webster Hall show after canceled performance in 2016

Attendees of Gov Ball’s earliest years recall how severe weather constantly threatened the weekend. Any heavy rainfall would immediately upturn the ground at Randall’s Island, the fest’s former stomping grounds, leading to endless mud and a canceled weekend. When the last day of the 2016 weekend was canceled due to storms, headliner Kanye West announced a surprise show at Webster Hall later that night, a club with only a 1,350 person capacity. He didn’t seem to anticipate that thousands more would show up, leading to chaos in the streets of Manhattan that West watched from the roof of his car. The show did not in fact go on due to the mayhem but at least those fans got a good story.

Azealia Banks packs the house in 2013

When Azealia Banks joined the Gov Ball line-up in 2013, it had been two years since her last hometown show. She played in the Sky Vodka tent, a small side stage that could barely contain the thousands who spilled out and into the field to watch Banks put on a career-defining set. Clad in an orange bodysuit and joined by her back-up dancers, she gave a stellar pop show for the audience while still a year away from releasing her debut album. 

During his 2024 set, Peso Pluma made a wrong step and fractured his foot while performing. The moment went unnoticed by the audience but a crew member brought him a chair a little later in case he needed it. But like a true superstar, he powered through the injury and didn’t give any less of a rousing set to all the fans. He just did the rest on mostly one foot. “If I have it fractured, I don’t give a s— because you all deserve a grand show,” he said. 

OutKast’s redeeming reunion after Coachella in 2014

When OutKast announced their reunion in 2014, they became a big draw of the entire festival season. But a lackluster performance at Coachella that year left fans and critics wanting more. Thankfully, they had a headlining set at Gov Ball that summer to help redeem their live skills. The hits-laden set made Coachella look like it was just a rehearsal. Killer Mike joined the duo on stage to perform “The Whole World.” Trending Stories

Pusha T debuting Drake diss “Infrared” in 2018

Before Kendrick Lamar and “Not Like Us,” there was Pusha T’s “Infrared.” The Clipse member was in the middle of a public beef with Drake when he played Gov Ball in 2018, replacing Brockhampton last minute. He performed his Drake diss “Infrared” for the crowd, a track claimed Drake used ghostwriters. The song was so well-received that the audience transformed into a “Fuck Drake!” chant not once but twice.