Metal, pop punk, Final Fantasy and Miss World Chile: the list of new bands joining Limp Bizkit, Guns N' Roses, Linkin Park and more at Download this year has a lot going on

Tim Mosenfelder / Duane Prokop / Jason / Mike Lewis (Getty) — (Image credit: Getty Images)

A host of new names have been added to this year's already loaded Download Festival bill, including some pop punk veterans, some returning UK alt rock heroes, some underground metal faves and a viral death metal singer.

Joining the lineup for the UK's biggest rock festival in June are A Day To Remember, Creeper, Daughtry, Hot Milk, Silly Goose, Marmozets, BAND-MAID, Stampin’ Ground, Frozemode, Conjurer, Annisokay, Private School and Decessus, Chilean death metal whose singer Ignacia Fernández went viral last year for winning 2025's Miss World Chile, Ignacia Fernández. contest after showing off her ferocious death growls.

Also joining the fun are The Primals, a Japanese heavy metal band officially endorsed by Final Fantasy, playing iconic songs from the beloved gaming franchise's soundtrack.

“We’re really proud of our line-up this year, and our second announcement brings further depth and diversity to DLXXIII," says Live Nation's Kamran Haq, chief booker for the festival. "We have huge artists like A Day To Remember, Daughtry, Creeper and Hot Milk, as well as bringing Final Fantasy XIV’s official band THE PRIMALS to Download for their very first show outside of Asia.

"And due to popular demand, Miss World Chile - Ignacia Fernández - will be performing with her band Decessus after surprising the world with her incredible death metal vocals a few months ago. We have even more surprises to come, and tickets are selling out faster than ever this year, so this is your last chance to snap up the final remaining tickets.”

Download 2026 — (Image credit: Live Nation)

Those bands join headliners Limp Bizkit (making their first appearance as Download headliners), Guns N' Roses and Linkin Park, as well as the likes of Cypress Hill, Trivium. Bad Omens, Halestorm, Architects, Babymetal, Electric Callboy, Ice Nine Kills and many more.

The new wave of bands added also comes alongside the long-awaited reveal of day splits for Download '26, with day tickets now officially on sale from the Download website.

Download 2026 takes place June 12-14 at Donington Park.

Artists

Merlin was promoted to Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has written for Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.

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