Chief Keef Will Perform In Chicago For 1st Time In 14 Years With Show At Northerly Island

CHICAGO — South Side rapper Chief Keef hasn’t performed within Chicago city limits in 14 years. That will change in September, when he will take the stage at Northerly Island.

The Sept. 12 show will kick off a 19-date nationwide tour behind the rapper’s latest mixtape, “Skeletor,” which he released in March to celebrate his 30th birthday. Tour tickets go on sale Friday, with pre-sales already underway.

Chief Keef, a native of Washington Park, last performed in Chicago at Lollapalooza in 2012 at the age of 16.

The rapper, whose real name is Keith Cozart, was essentially blacklisted from performing locally as he was engulfed in legal trouble and a longstanding battle with former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who in 2015 called the rapper an “unacceptable role model” whose music “promotes violence.”

In 2015, Chief Keef held his infamous show in Hammond, Indiana, where he appeared via hologram. The performance only lasted one song before being shut down by Hammond police because of warnings from the mayor’s office that the show posed a public safety risk, the Tribune reported at the time.

Chief Keef, who left Chicago to live in Los Angeles in 2014, finally made his return to a local stage when he headlined Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash Festival in suburban Bridgeview in June 2024.

Chief Keef is widely celebrated as one of the most influential rappers of all time, credited with popularizing the hip-hop subgenre of drill music. He’s released more than 30 mixtapes and albums and has been featured on records by artists like Drake, Travis Scott and Lil Uzi Vert. He recently settled a longstand feud with singer Katy Perry as he appears in the official remix of her son “Legendary Lovers,” titled “Legendary Lovers (Save Me),” which was released on May 29.

Find more information about his tour, “Chief Keef Live 2026,” here.