For the first time since 1948, the NFL Draft is coming home to Pittsburgh. And the Steel City isn’t showing up quietly.
The NFL has announced Wiz Khalifa, Bret Michaels, and Kane Brown as the headliners for the 2026 Draft Entertainment Series — a free, three-day live music experience running alongside the draft from April 23–25 at the Draft Theater next to Acrisure Stadium. The lineup hits different not just because of the star power, but because of what it means to the city behind it.
The “Black and Yellow” champion, who built his name off Pittsburgh’s “Black and Yellow” colors, takes the stage Friday evening ahead of rounds two and three, sharing the night with Poison frontman Bret Michaels, who was born just outside the city in Butler, Pennsylvania. Two sons of the ‘Burgh on the same stage, in the same city that shaped them both. Khalifa’s arriving in the middle of the busiest run of his career.
Khalifa has been on go since the year began, opening 2026 with Khaotic in January, a hard-hitting project featuring Juicy J, 2 Chainz, and Dave East boasting a sharper, more aggressive side of his sound. Khalifa then followed up in February with his eighth studio album, Girls Love Horses — a 14-track project rooted in cannabis culture, personal freedom, and the laid-back swagger he’s made synonymous with his name.
The Pittsburgh show sits right in the middle of The Macrodose Tour, his 4/20-themed headline run that closes at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre with support from 2 Chainz, Berner, and DJ Bonics. After that, Khalifa links up with Machine Gun Kelly for the North American leg of The Lost Americana Tour, kicking off in May.
“Coming home to Pittsburgh for the Draft is pretty special…This city raised me, and the energy here is different.”
Wiz Khalifa
Michaels didn’t hold back either, calling the moment “a dream come true” as a lifelong Steelers fan — and word is the two are already building their set together, with a collaborative record in the works for the night. Country superstar Kane Brown closes out the weekend on Saturday, April 25, bringing his high-energy, 12-time Country Airplay chart-topping presence to the finale.
The festivities kick off Thursday with Pittsburgh-raised jazz musician KELS delivering the national anthem, followed by the James Weldon Johnson Foundation’s National Hymn Choir and the Heritage Gospel Chorale of Pittsburgh performing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” — a powerful opening that grounds the weekend in community before the spectacle begins.
All performances are free and open to the public, first-come, first-served. Register at NFL.com/DraftAccess.
Source: NFL / Billboard / The Source
