BABYMETAL at Summer Sonic 2026: Why This Year Is Special

Article

BABYMETAL isn't just playing Summer Sonic 2026 — for one day each in Tokyo and Osaka, they're running their own stage.

What "Curated by BABYMETAL" Means

The band is headlining and programming a dedicated stage called the SONIC "METAL" STAGE – Curated by BABYMETAL, taking charge of that stage's lineup for a day at each venue — Tokyo and Osaka. Full details on which other acts join that stage were still rolling out at the time of this guide; check the official Summer Sonic site for updates.

Two Anniversaries, One Weekend

2026 is Summer Sonic's 25th anniversary and BABYMETAL's own 15th anniversary since forming in 2010 — a coincidence the festival leaned into directly, calling the two "entities that cannot be spoken of without one another."

New to BABYMETAL?

If you don't know the group yet, see TBM's full What Is BABYMETAL? guide for their history and sound before the festival.

What To Know

A band curating its own festival stage is rare, and BABYMETAL doing it at Summer Sonic — a festival tied to their own history — during both acts' anniversary years is a full-circle moment metal fans travel for.

BABYMETAL's "kawaii metal" fusion made them one of the first Japanese metal acts to build a genuinely global touring fanbase, and Summer Sonic has been part of that story from early on — which is part of why the festival frames this collaboration as two histories "converging."

Easy Japanese

BABYMETALがサマーソニック2026に出演します。東京と大阪でそれぞれ1日、自分たちでステージを企画する特別な出演です。