Billy Joel, Mumford & Sons, Deadmau5, Kendrick Lamar, Florence and The Machine, Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters and My Morning Jacket are among the acts confirmed to appear at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival this spring. As previously reported, the 13th annual music, art and comedy gathering will return to Manchester, Tenn. from June 11-14. The final Bonnaroo 2015 lineup will boast over 140 bands and comedians throughout 12 stages.

Other marquee acts slated to perform at the always eclectic event include: Bassnectar, Alabama Shakes, Childish Gambino, Flume, Hozier, Slayer, Belle and Sebastian, Spoon, The War On Drugs, Atmosphere, Tears for Fears, Brandi Carlile, Gary Clark Jr., Twenty|One|Pilots, Flying Lotus and Earth Wind & Fire. The festival’s lineup was officially rolled out this evening via The Bonnaroo Lineup Announcement Megathon (BLAM!) video featuring a documentary on last year’s Skrillex-hosted SuperJam.

Billy Joel is the latest iconic performer to make the trek to Manchester, following the likes of cross-generational headliners like Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, The Police, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and Tom Petty. His appearance on the festival’s What Stage is part of an extensive comeback that started with a show-stealing spot at the 12-12-12 benefit concert and has since spawned a monthly residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

“In so many ways, the concept of bridging is what defines the Bonnaroo experience—not just the breadth and the depth of the lineup, but also the past, present and future aspects of the lineup are things we are very conscious about when booking the festival,” says Ashley Capps of Knoxville, of Tenn.’s AC Entertainment, who founded Bonnaroo along with the New York-by-way-of-New Orleans promoters Superfly. “Bill Joel and Robert Plant are major icons of rock music and it is a thrill to have both of them perform at our festival. Billy Joel is an icon and it is going to be an iconic performance.”

While Joel is a new addition to the Bonnaroo family, one of this year’s other top-shelf bands has a rich history with the festival. Mumford & Sons made their Bonnaroo debut in the relatively intimate That Tent in 2010 and graduated to the Which Stage in 2011, where they drew the largest crowd in that performance space’s history. The English roots-pop group were scheduled to headline the festival in 2013 but were forced to cancel their appearance at the eleventh hour while bassist Ted Dwane recovered from an emergency surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain. (Jack Johnson, who was at the festival to sit in with his pals ALO, ended up stepping up to the plate and taking over their headlining spot. He honored Mumford & Sons by covering their number “The Cave.”)

“It was sad that they had to cancel two years ago—they had so much momentum leading up to that performance, but we couldn’t be more excited to have them come back.” Capps says. The festival hoped to bring them back last year but it ultimately made more sense for everyone to have the quartet, who are currently working on their third album, back in 2015. “Their evolution at Bonnaroo is absolutely extraordinary and their evolution, period, has been absolutely extraordinary. They started on one of the festival’s smaller stages and very, very quickly evolved into a headliner.”

Hip-hop and electronic music have been core elements of Bonnaroo’s stylistic fabric since the beginning but this year the festival has anointed Deadmau5 as the first DJ to headline the festival’s massive What Stage. Capps says the Canadian progressive-house producer will play “slightly later than the traditional headliner,” perhaps like Arcade Fire, Phish and Jay-Z in years past. “Deadmau5 had one of those amazing Bonnaroo concerts several years ago that people still talk about to this day and we have been hoping to bring him back,” Capps says in reference to the costume-clad DJ’s spirited 2010 late-night set.

Likewise, instead of booking rappers who were already well established before their first Bonnaroo appearance like Jay-Z, Eminem and, most controversially, Kanye West, the festival looked from within for his year’s hip-hop headliner: Kendrick Lamar. The now 27-year-old MC was largely unknown outside of California when he played a showcase spot on Bonnaroo’s opening night in 2012 and returned a star when made his way to the What Stage between Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and The National the following year. Now, he’s graduated to the top line of the festival’s marquee. “Kendrick is one of the most exciting artists of our time and 2015 is going to be an amazing year for him,” Capps adds.

Capps also is quick to point out that one of this year’s true legends, Robert Plant, has also embraced Bonnaroo’s spirit of change and evolution since his first Bonnaroo appearance seven years ago. In 2008, the Led Zeppelin vocalist performed a set of roots-oriented Americana with bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss and, just three years later, returned with his blues-and-psych-oriented Band of Joy. This year Plant will appear with The Sensational Space Shifters, an international cast of musicians who blend blues, rock and world music.

“As an artist, Robert Plant embodies a lot of what we hope the Bonnaroo spirit is,” Capps says while nodding to his own love of global music. “He is very creative and never rests on his laurels. He is always pursuing new ideas and creatively reinventing himself.”

However, for many repeat Bonnaroovians, no made has come to define Bonnaroo than Kentucky-based rockers My Morning Jacket. Not only does MMJ’s mélange of psychedelic, country, rock, Americana, jam, soul, indie and hard rock sounds touch on many of the festival’s core styles, but the quintet has literally grown in popularity along with the festival. My Morning Jacket has appeared at Bonnaroo six times since 2003 (including consecutive appearances from 2003-2006) and moved their way from a tiny tent that first year to a headlining spot on the main stage during their last ‘Roo appearance in 2011. Their 2004 outdoor set during a heavy storm and their 2006, two-set late cover revue remain two of the band and festival’s—defining moments. In 2008, they even managed to bring out such divergent names as comedian Zach Galifianakis, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett and Dave Matthews Band/Flecktones saxophonist Jeff Coffin during the same late-night stretch. Frontman Jim James returned for a solo performance and to lead a SuperJam in 2012 and members of the group were spotted in the crowd last summer.

“The Jacket never fails to deliver an amazing Bonnaroo experience,” Capps reflects. “They have quite a string of remarkable performances at the festival—they are going to have a new record out this spring and we are excited to have them back for the first time in a few years.”

As in years past, Bonnaroo will also boast a range of genre-meshing superjams as well as honor its roots in live, improvisational music thanks to choice appearances by STS9, Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood, Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, Moon Taxi, SOJA, Jerry Douglas Presents Earls of Leicester, Dopapod and the recently reunited Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, among others. Both Harper and Fleck performed at the inaugural Bonnaroo in 2002 and have returned numerous times with a myriad of projects. Fleck, one of the artists with the most Bonnaroo plays under his belt appeared at the festival in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011.

Ben Folds, the North Carolina-bred piano player who is currently based in the festival’s Nashville, Tenn. shadow, will also make a rare back-to-back appearance at Bonnaroo. Last year, Folds performed as part of a Derek Trucks-led SuperJam and sat in with festival headliner Elton John for a piano duel based around “Grey Seal.”

Capps also cites Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood as a “treat” to have, noting that though all four members of the jazz-improv band have performed at past Bonnaroos, this is the first time they’ve nabbed this particular configuration.

“Both Ben Harper are Bela have been with us since the beginning and have continued to be major threads running through the festival,” also notes Capps, who promoted club and theater Flecktones shows in the band’s early days. “Ben Harper is returning after a fairly lengthy absence.”

For the third year in row, comedic actor and banjo enthusiast Ed Helms will lead his own The Bluegrass Situation SuperJam. If the past two years are an indication, Helms will invite some of his favorite roots players to Tennessee for the jam-session along with the fest’s previously confirmed roots and Americana act. (Performers ranging from The Avett Brothers to the Lone Bellow joined in the celebration last year.)

“We were asked to collaborate with Ed Helms on The Bluegrass Situation the last two years and it has been an extraordinary experience and one of the highlights of the festival,” Capps says. “My hat is off to Ed Helms and his team who worked hard to not just make it a SuperJam but a ‘super session’ that is very thoughtfully orchestrated on their part. They put musicians together and encourage them to perform particular songs.”
Bonnaroo has a rich history of booking world music performers and this year is no exception. Capps cites Tanya Tagaq, a Canadian folk singer who beat out both Arcade Fire and Drake for the Polaris prize, and French-Chilean MC Ana Tijoux as two personal favorites. He also encourages fans to check out a special performance dubbed Atomic Bomb! Who Is William Onyeabor?

“William Onyeabor is a legendary African musician who quit performing a couple of decades ago and is now a preacher from what I understand,” Capps says. “He recorded some amazing music that has been rediscovered and a number of artists have been paying tribute to him in what is essentially a superjam format of a band and special guests.”

Elsewhere, fans of the neo-psych world should also be excited to see The War On Drugs, Courtney Barnett, Caribou, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, Temples, Woods and Strand of Oaks on this year’s bill while Punch Brothers, Dawes, Trampled By Turtles, Hurray For The Riff Raff and Houndmouth are among the festival’s top string and Americana acts.
“We want to create an cornucopia of music—a rich multi-faceted experience with our pulse on the past, present and future,” Capps says before laughing. “Beyond that is very un-scientific.”

Bonnaroo Tickets will be available this Saturday at noon.

Here’s a look at the festival’s lineup:

Billy Joel
Mumford & Sons
Deadmau5
Kendrick Lamar
Florence and The Machine
Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters
My Morning Jacket
Bassnectar
Alabama Shakes
Childish Gambino
Flume
Hozier
Slayer
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
Belle and Sebastian
Spoon
The War On Drugs
STS9
Ben Folds
SuperJam
Atmosphere
Atomic Bomb! Who Is William Onyeabor?
Tears for Fears
Brandi Carlile
Twenty|One|Pilots
The Bluegrass Situation SuperJam featuring Ed Helms & Special Guests
Flying Lotus
Earth Wind & Fire
Caribou
Gary Clark Jr.
SBTRKT
Punch Brothers
Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood
Tove Lo
Run the Jewels
Dawes
G-Eazy
Trampled By Turtles
Sturgill Simpson
Moon Taxi
AWOLNATION
Sylvan Esso
Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn
Guster
Jamie XX
Against Me!
Odesza
SOJA
Jerry Douglas Presents Earls of Leicester
Bleachers
Rudimental
Mac DeMarco
Tycho
The Very Best
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
Shakey Graves
Shabazz Palaces
Gramatik
Mø
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Jungle
Benjamin Booker
Houndmouth
The Growlers
Glass Animals
Ana Tijoux
SZA
Courtney Barnett
Rhiannon Giddens
Royal Blood
Tanya Tagaq
Woods
Hurray For The Riff Raff
Iceage
Temples
Between The Buried & Me
Rustie
Ryn Weaver
Dopapod
Pokey LaFarge
Priory
Bahamas
Strand of Oaks
Phox
Gregory Alan Isakov
Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath
The Districts
Madisen Ward & Mama Bear
DMA’s
Catfish & The Bottlemen
Jon Cleary & The Monster Children
Pallbearer
Dej Loaf
Christopher Denny
Hiss Golden Messenger
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas
Unlocking the Truth