Kings of Leon Return to Abu Dhabi F1 Concerts After 17 Years

The latest:

Kings of Leon will open the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after-race concert series on Thursday, December 3, taking the slot vacated by Swedish singer Zara Larsson. Organiser Ethara said Larsson, announced in February, is no longer able to perform, without giving a reason. The American band shares the night with Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi at Etihad Live.

Details:

• The replacement: Ethara confirmed Larsson, named in February as part of the line-up, can no longer appear. The organiser did not state a reason for her withdrawal, nor whether the change affects any other night of the four-day series running alongside the season finale at Yas Marina Circuit.
• Access: Entry to the after-race concerts is restricted to Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ticket holders, so the shows are not sold as standalone events. The programme is built around the race weekend rather than as a separate festival, with performances staged at Etihad Live on Yas Island.
• The 2009 return: The booking marks Kings of Leon’s return to the Abu Dhabi F1 concerts after 17 years. The band made its Middle East debut at the inaugural 2009 race, a year after Only by the Night produced the hits Sex on Fire and Use Somebody.
• The UAE record: According to The National’s report at the time, the band walked on stage in 2009 to Mozart’s Requiem before opening with Crawl, and older material including Molly’s Chambers landed warmly. It returned in 2014 at Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai, where The National praised a tight 22-song set.
• New album: The Abu Dhabi date follows the scheduled November 6 release of O My Beloved, the band’s 10th studio album and first entirely self-produced record. The 13 tracks draw on family, childhood memories and the group’s early years, with a more acoustic-led sound on lead single “My Whole World”.
• The injury: That acoustic direction reportedly emerged after frontman Caleb Followill broke his foot last year. Writing on an acoustic guitar during his recovery prompted the band to abandon some of the electric guitar-driven material it had been developing.
• The band: Formed in Nashville in 1999 by brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill with their cousin Matthew, the group released debut album Youth and Young Manhood in 2003. It has won four Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year for Use Somebody in 2010.
• Capaldi: Capaldi returns to the capital after a sold-out performance at Saadiyat Nights in January and was among the first artists announced for this year’s F1 concerts. He is best known for Someone You Loved and Before You Go.
• The full line-up: The announcement completes the four-night programme: Jennifer Lopez and Alex Warren on December 4, Imagine Dragons on December 5, and The Chainsmokers and The Script closing on race day, December 6. The wider entertainment schedule opens December 2 with Andrea Bocelli at Etihad Arena.

Between the lines:

The slot carries an obvious commercial logic for the band: the Abu Dhabi show lands weeks after the November 6 release of O My Beloved, giving a largely acoustic record a stadium-scale audience. The 2009 and 2014 UAE appearances both followed album cycles, and the new material arrives from a writing process shaped by Followill’s recovery.

What’s next

The album lands November 6, setting up whether the acoustic-led new songs appear in the December 3 Etihad Live set. Also open: whether Ethara announces further line-up changes before the race weekend begins December 2.