Tinashe to Headline Harvard Yardfest 2024

R&B singer-songwriter Tinashe will headline at Yardfest 2024, Harvard’s annual outdoor spring concert, the College Events Board announced Friday.

The Harvard Yard concert will also feature Swedish musical duo NOTD and student performers Boom Boom Sauce and Beacon Street as opening acts.

CEB wrote in a press release that Tinashe is “one of music’s most compelling artists.”

Tinashe is best known for her 2014 song “2 On” featuring Schoolboy Q, which peaked at 24 in Billboard’s top 100. Her other hits include “Needs” and “Talk To Me Nice,” both from her 2023 album “BB/ANG3L.”

Prior to the announcement, Harvard undergraduates had speculated that the artist was Tinashe on Sidechat, an anonymous messaging board, based on a series of clues released by the CEB via Instagram.

Friday’s announcement showed their sleuthing to be correct.

Last year, hip hop and R&B singer Jeremih headlined the concert. Other Yardfest headliners from recent years include Swae Lee, Bazzi, and Lil Yachty.

The headliner announcement comes as revenues from the student activities fee — an optional fund that covers CEB programming — have dropped $70,000 compared to last year.

In a February interview with The Crimson, Associate Dean for Student Engagement Jason R. Meier said students opting out of the fee has increased dissatisfaction with some CEB-sponsored events.

“We’re never going to get the headliners that you all want for Crimson Jam and Yardfest,” Meier said. “Everyone was like, ‘Oh, get Ice Spice’ last year. Ice Spice was going for a cool half a million dollars last year, without an album yet.”

“This conversation about social life and the student activity fee is all wrapped up together,” Meier said in February. “I think a lot of students don’t realize by opting out, they’re exacerbating this larger problem that we already have.”

Yardfest will be held on Sunday, April 7 from 4 to 8 p.m. in Tercentenary Theatre.

—Staff writer Azusa M. Lippit can be reached at azusa.lippit@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @azusalippit or on Threads @azusalippit.