Jill Scott, John Legend, Earth, Wind & Fire and More to Perform at HBCU Awarefest

Live Nation Urban and Student Freedom Initiative (SFI) have announced the lineup for the inaugural HBCU AWAREFEST.  

The HBCU fundraising event, focused on the student loan debt crisis, is set for March 26, 2026, at State Farm Arena. 

Jill Scott, John Legend and Earth, Wind & Fire are at the top of the bill. The genre-spanning lineup also includes PJ Morton, Coco Jones, Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Tems, Common, Jeezy, Mickey Guyton and more. 

There will also be a special performance from the cast of Alicia Keys‘ award-winning Broadway musical Hell’s Kitchen, plus appearances from Big Boi, Mayor Andre Dickens, Angel Reese and others. 

“At Student Freedom Initiative, we are incredibly excited about the coalition and movement that we are building to end the student loan debt crisis for our nation’s HBCU students,” says Keith Shoates, president and CEO of SFI.

Shoates continues, “In addition to these amazing performers, we have enlisted AWAREFEST Ambassadors, showing the breadth of our ecosystem of mission-aligned partners. These individuals will help to spread the word and share the urgency of our mission to tackle the racial wealth gap through the lens of education.”

According to press materials, “HBCU AWAREFEST is a nationwide call to action with workshops, panel discussions, and live music, which will ignite conversations and spark action to tackle student loan debt for HBCU students.”

Tickets for the 2026 HBCU AWAREFEST are on sale at awarefest.org.

See the full lineup below.

HBCU AWAREFEST 2026 Performance Lineup

Adam Blackstone

Coco Jones

Common

Earth, Wind, & Fire

GloRilla

Jeezy

Jill Scott

John Legend

Kirk Franklin

Metro Boomin

Mickey Guyton

PJ Morton

Tems

The Cast of Alicia Keys’ Hit Broadway Musical Hell’s Kitchen

Travis Greene

Yolanda Adams

HBCU AWAREFEST Speaker Lineup

Mayor Andre Dickens

Angel Reese

Big Boi

Chris Paul

Larenz Tate

Robert F. Smith

Ryan Clark

2 Chainz

& more