Lizzo and Beck have been tapped to be keynote speakers at this year’s South by Southwest, taking place March 11 through 20 in Austin, Texas. (P-MRC — the joint venture between Rolling Stone’s publisher, PMC, and MRC — owns a 50 percent stake in SXSW.)
The two musicians were added to the keynote lineup alongside bestselling author Neal Stephenson, whose books include Snow Crash and Termination Shock. Filmmaker Celine Tricart, who’s won several film festival awards for her immersive virtual reality work, will also deliver a keynote.
Lizzo’s keynote will come as she preps for the premiere of her new Amazon reality series, Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, which is set to arrive this year. Last year, the pop star released a new single, “Rumors,” featuring Cardi B, and continues to work on the follow-up to her 2019 breakout album, Cuz I Love You.
Beck also hasn’t released an album since 2019, which is when his 14th studio album, Hyperspace, arrived. He has kept busy with various projects, like helming a remix of Paul McCartney’s “Find My Way,” and working with singer-songwriter Natalie Bergman on a cover of Lion’s “You’ve Got a Woman” and a remix of Bergman’s “Paint the Rain.”
Along with the new keynote speakers, SXSW added several more featured speakers to its 2022 lineup, including Bob Odenkirk, Ethan Hawke, Rashida Jones, Chrissy Teigen, Al Roker, Tye Sheridan, Mark Cuban, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the casts of The Boys and Girls5eva, author James Ellroy, and Office (U.S.) creator Greg Daniels.
SXSW will return to full in-person event for the first time in two years. The 2020 event was canceled because of Covid-19, while last year’s festival was held virtually due to ongoing safety concerns.