Musikfest’s run for this year ended just three months ago, and Bethlehem’s massive downtown and South Side music festival already has announced the first two headliners for next year – its two earliest headliner announcements ever.

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They are indie-rock band that in the 2000s released three platinum albums, that has had a dozen Top 10 Alternative chart hits – five of which have gone gold or platinum – and has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards.

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Also announced was a country music singer-songwriter whose blend with blues, rock and soul has given him four platinum and gold hits, despite his debut album being released less than two years ago.

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Death Cab for Cutie, best known for its 2006 double-platinum hit "I Will Follow You into the Dark" and 2000s platinum hits "I Will Possess Your Heart" and “Soul Meets Body” but has continued to have Alternative chart-topping hits this year with “Riptides” and “Stone Over Water,” will headline Musikfest’s preview night at 6 p.m. Aug. 5.

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And Ty Myers, best known for his platinum hit “Ends of the Earth,” will perform at the festival’s main Steel Stage at 7 p.m. Aug. 7, Musikfest organizer ArtsQuest announced.

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The announcements also formally declare Musikfest’s 44th year will include a “preview” day, as ArtsQuest announced it will run 11 days – Aug. 5-15. The 11th day, while still referred to as a “preview,” has been included as part of the lineup in recent years.

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Tickets for Myers, at $57.50 general admission standing to $132.50 for premium first, went on sale Friday, Nov. 6. 

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Tickets for Death Cab for Cutie, the prices of which were not announced, go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 13. Both are available at the ArtsQuest Center box office at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, at the ArtsQuest website and at 610-332-3378.

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The timing of the announcements beat out and tied the Nov. 9, 2018, announcement of Train and Goo Goo Dolls for the festival’s earliest headliner announcements ever. The announcement of country singer Riley Green for 2025’s festival on Nov. 11 is now the fourth-earliest.

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This year’s first announcement of country singer Bailey Zimmerman on Nov. 17 was the fifth earliest.

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The new announcements also put the tickets on sale in time for them to be used for holiday presents, or to be bought at ArtsQuest’s Christkindlmarkt winter holiday market, which opens Friday, Nov. 13, on the SteelStacks campus.

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Death Cab for Cutie is considered one of the definitive bands in the rise of indie rock in the 2000s.

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The band released its debut album in 1998, but first charted its 2003 fourth album, “Transatlanticism,” which sold platinum.

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But its biggest commercial success came with its 2000 album “Plans,” which also sold platinum and reached No. 4 on Billboard’s overall Albums chart and produced "I Will Follow You into the Dark," “Soul Meets Body” and the gold hit “Crooked Teeth.”

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Its 2008 follow-up album “Narrow Stairs” topped the Albums chart, reached gold status sales and had the platinum hit "I Will Possess Your Heart."

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Its 2011 album “Codes and Keys” peaked at No. 3 and included the gold hit “You Are a Tourist,” which topped the Alternative Singles chart. It had four more Alt chart-topping hits – 2015’s “Black Sun,”  2018’s “Gold Rush” and “Northern Lights” and 2022’s “Here to Forever” and “Pepper.”

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Its most recent album, “I Built You a Tower,” released in June, included the No. 1 Alt-chart hits “Riptide” and “Stone Over Water.”

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Myers debuted with the platinum single “Drinkin Alone” in 2023, and followed that with the gold hit “Stay” in 2024. 

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But he had his biggest success with the release of his debut album, “The Select,” in 2025. It hit No. 12 on the Country chart and produced the platinum hit “Thought It Was Love,” which peaked at No. 31 on the Country chart.

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His next single, “Ends of the Earth,” went to No. 11 on the Country Airplay chart, and crossed over to No. 72 on Billboard’s overall singles chart. 

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He has released two more albums since. “Heavy on the Soul,” released in March, reached No. 35 on the Country chart and No. 15 on the Folk/Americana chart, and produced the single “Message to You,” which reached No. 32 on the Hot Country Singles chart and No. 2 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under chart.

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His most recent album, “Two Braids & The Truth,” a tribute to Willie Nelson, was released in September. It included Myers’ most recent single, a cover of Nelson’s “Always on My Mind” with country singer Carter Faith.

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ArtsQuest said that this year, 1,260,630 people attended Musikfest – the third-best total in its history, despite weather canceling some shows at the festival. Record attendance for Musikfest remains at 1,449,000 in 2025.

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It said 52,890 tickets to headliner shows were sold in 2026, including two sellouts: Yellowcard and Taking Back Sunday and “Weird Al” Yankovic with Puddles Pity Party. That was down from a record 60,800 tickets to its 11 headline concerts in 2025 – which included four sold-out headline shows, which tied the record.

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Musikfest bills itself as the largest free, ungated music festival in the United States.