CHARLI XCX JUST CRASHED THE STROKES’ HEADLINING SET — AND JULIAN CASABLANCAS HAD A BRUTALLY HONEST MESSAGE FOR HER. 😳🔥 — WHAT STARTED AS AN ALBUM SALES BATTLE ENDED WITH A WILD SURPRISE ONSTAGE The Strokes shocked fans at San Francisco’s Outside Lands festival when Charli XCX suddenly joined them onstage for a surprise performance of “Take It or Leave It.” Julian Casablancas introduced her as a “superstar” before reminding the crowd that both artists had released new albums on the same day in July. But instead of keeping their recent sales rivalry serious, Casablancas turned the moment into a hilarious public concession, telling Charli she had “defeated” them and calling her the “new queen of everything.” After the performance, he doubled down with an even more blunt admission about who won their album battle. And the way he delivered that final verdict had the entire crowd celebrating the unexpected crossover… 👀🎤

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See Charli XCX Join the Strokes for ‘Take It or Leave It’ at Outside Lands

Fresh off their album sales battle — “She won. She won by a lot,” Julian Casablancas quipped — Friday night’s headliner at San Francisco fest makes surprise appearance during band’s Saturday set
See Charli XCX Join the Strokes for 'Take It or Leave It' at Outside Lands
The Strokes and Charli XCX @ Outside LandsYouTube

The Strokes brought out surprise guest Charli XCX to perform “Take It or Leave It” during the band’s headlining set Saturday at the Outside Lands festival.

“We got a special little guest. A big guest. A superstar,” Julian Casablancas told the crowd before alluding to the fact that both artists released new albums — the Strokes’ Reality Awaits, Charli’s Music, Fashion, Film — on the same day in July.

“We had a great battle. Congratulations, you defeated us in the album sales. You’re new queen of everything, Charli XCX.” The group and the singer — who headlined the previous night at the San Francisco fest — then launched into the Is This It? closer:

“Charli motherfucking XCX,” Casablancas said after the surprise performance, circling back to their sales battle. “Yep, she won. She won by a lot.”

Watch Charli XCX join The Strokes for 'Take It Or Leave It' at Outside Lands 2026

Casablancas and Charli XCX previously collaborated when he joined her on a reworking of “Mean Girls” for her remix album Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat.

 

Charli is next scheduled to headline the U.K.’s Reading and Leeds festivals, while the Strokes will jet off to Japan next weekend for the Summer Sonic festivals in Tokyo and Osaka.

SOURCE: ROLLINGSTONE