Lola Young tells Reading 2026 to “try not to give a fuck” as she plays “surprise” set
Lola Young told Reading 2026 to “try not to give a fuck” as she made a “surprise” appearance on The Grid today (Sunday August 30).
The south London singer-songwriter took to the stage at 3.15pm, after announcing the performance just a few hours earlier today. “I’m so happy to be here, thank you for coming,” she told the main stage crowd. “I dropped the surprise yesterday at Electric Picnic, so I’m terrible at keeping secrets.”
Young’s set drew from her 2024 second album ‘This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway’ and last year’s follow-up, ‘I’m Only F**king Myself’. Early in the mid-afternoon set, she dropped ‘Wish You Were Dead’ and ‘Big Brown Eyes’ as the crowd in front of the stage continued to grow. “Jesus fucking Christ, do you know that I love you?” she ad-libbed during the latter track. “I probably shouldn’t say that but…”
During ‘Conceited’, the star left the stage, singing to the camera from the side of stage area, before making her way back in front of her fans. For ‘Post Sex Clarity’, the screens either side of the stage were bathed in a sepia tone, remaining under that filter until the end of ‘Spiders’.
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“I remember this is the first festival I ever came to after I just about passed my GCSEs,” she told the crowd after that emotional song, before introducing ‘Not Like That Anymore’ by sharing its accompanying dance moves with the crowd.
Prior to the final song of the set – a version of her hit song ‘Messy’ – Young took a moment to address the audience. “If you leave with anything from this set, try not to give a fuck,” she advised them. “Life is very, very difficult and there are some very difficult moments. Politically, the world is fucked, but this is what we get to do. We get to share our music, share our art, and you guys get to be here, so it’s a beautiful moment.”
Making the most of the last moments of her set, fans climbed onto their friends’ shoulders to sing along to ‘Messy’, with the track eliciting a huge reaction from the sprawling crowd.
Lola Young played:
‘Wish You Were Dead’
‘Big Brown Eyes’
‘One Thing’
‘Conceited’
‘D£aler’
‘Post Sex Clarity’
‘Spiders’
‘Not Like That Anymore’
‘Messy’
Young’s set completes a trilogy of “secret” performances at Reading 2026, following “surprise” appearances from Jamie T – who opened the main stage on Friday (August 28) – and Royal Blood, who performed at The Gallery on the same day.
In May, Young shared her first piece of new music since the release of ‘I’m Only F**king Myself’ with the James Blake collaboration, ‘From Down Here’. She gave the song its live debut days later at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Sunderland.
Reading 2026 concludes today with performances from Chase & Status, Florence + The Machine, Westside Cowboy, Loyle Carner, Violet Grohl, Role Model, and more.
Check back at NME here for all the latest news, reviews, photos, interviews and more from Reading & Leeds 2026.
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