Charli XCX Welcomes Tinashe for Surprise Performance at 2026 Austin City Limits Festival

Charli xcx brought out a surprise guest during her headlining set at the Austin City Limits Festival.

At Zilker Park on Friday (Oct. 9), Charli welcomed Tinashe to the stage to perform two tracks from the singer’s new album, Popstar, which debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 in early October.

The surprise appearance was teased earlier that day on social media, when Tinashe shared a video on her Instagram Stories of herself and Charli dancing backstage to their 2015 collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign, “Drop That Kitty.”

Tinashe made the live debut of “Nobody Wanna Dance Anymore” and performed the Popstar dance-pop standout “Melatonin.”

Charli also brought out her Sweat Tour mate Troye Sivan during ACL Festival’s opening weekend on Oct. 2, when he performed his songs “Le Boy” and “Party.”

Following their 2015 collaboration on “Drop That Kitty,” Charli and Tinashe reunited in 2024 for a remix of “B2B,” which appeared on the British star’s Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat.

Tinashe is celebrating a career milestone with Popstar, which debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, marking her highest-charting album to date and her first top 10 appearance on the chart.

“I’m so unbelievably grateful, this is CRAZY! #6 BILLBOARD DEBUT,” she wrote on X following the milestone, adding a string of crying emojis and thanking fans “so soooooo much” for their love and support before signing off with, “I’m cryinggggg.”

Tinashe previously peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 with her 2014 major-lable debut, Aquarius. Her subsequent albums Nightride and Joyride reached Nos. 89 and 58, respectively, while 2024’s Quantum Baby debuted at No. 199.

The 25th anniversary edition of ACL Festival wraps up this weekend with headlining performances by RÜFÜS DU SOL, Lorde, Lola Young and Young Miko on Saturday (Oct. 10), followed by closing sets from Twenty One Pilots, The xx, Geese and Sofi Tukker on Sunday (Oct. 11).