Singer Lola Young has stepped onstage with a surprise Reading festival set, saying: “The cat is out of the bag.”
The 25-year-old appeared at the Grid stage on Sunday for a performance which was originally labelled for a “special guest”.
Posting on her Instagram story moments before, she said: “I am backstage, the cat is out of the bag and I am going to be performing so see you at 14:15 at the Grid stage.
“Can’t wait to see you there!”
Return after a difficult year
It comes after the singer had to pull out of the festival a year ago due to scheduling conflicts.
She also had to cancel a string of shows after she collapsed on stage in September 2025. The incident took place while she was performing at the All Things Go music festival at Forest Hills Stadium in New York.
The pop star cancelled all upcoming performances and told fans she was “going away for a while” in order to “come back stronger”, making her return to the stage in February 2026.
Hit songs and festival lineup
During her set, she sang some of her top hits including Messy, One Thing and Conceited.
Young wore green tracksuit culottes and a black top with long black acrylic nails and joined a star-studded Sunday line-up which includes Florence and the Machine, Loyle Carner, Role Model and Kneecap.
The set comes weeks after Young completed a brief six-date UK tour including shows in Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow before finishing with two dates in London.
Rise to fame and awards
The singer rose to fame following the release of her number one song Messy.
Earlier this year, she took home her first Grammy award, winning Best Pop Solo Performance for her 2024 hit track and also took home the Brit award for Breakthrough act.
