Olivia Rodrigo brings Stevie Nicks, Alanis Morissette and Sarah McLachlan on stage at Daisy Chain Fields

On Saturday August 29, Olivia Rodrigo closed out the first ever Daisy Chain Fields festival with a historic headline set on the Dandelion Stage at the Great Park in Irvine, California. In doing so, she pulled off something very few artists could: she brought three iconic women onstage who have each shaped the sound of women in pop music in their own way. Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette and Stevie Nicks all made appearances, turning the performance into a full on celebration of generations of female musicians.

It was no coincidence that McLachlan was the first guest to show up. Daisy Chain Fields is directly inspired by Lilith Fair, the groundbreaking traveling festival McLachlan founded in 1997 that put female artists center stage on a large scale for the very first time. Rodrigo told the crowd that Lilith Fair laid the foundation for everything Daisy Chain Fields is able to be today. The two performed McLachlan's songs "Building a Mystery" and "Angel" together, dedicating the latter to Dolly Parton, who had passed away earlier that week at the age of 80 following a brief illness. McLachlan described Parton as "the O.G. matriarch, beautiful goddess" and "the biggest philanthropist" in country music.

A last minute change to the lineup then produced one of the most talked about moments of the night. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was unable to appear due to personal circumstances. Rodrigo broke the news to the crowd herself: "The bad news is Karen O is not able to make it tonight, she was one of the first people who said yes to Daisy Chain but she has a personal matter that requires her to be elsewhere." The good news followed almost immediately: Alanis Morissette walked out onto the stage. Together they performed "Ironic," the indestructible single from Morissette's 1995 album Jagged Little Pill. During the song they updated one of its most famous lines, changing "beautiful wife" to "beautiful husband," a nod to the festival's queer inclusive spirit. The two share a special connection: they first met in 2021 for a Rolling Stone cover shoot and had previously shared a stage during Rodrigo's Sour Tour in Los Angeles, where they sang "You Oughta Know" together. Rodrigo also inducted Morissette into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022.

To top it all off, Stevie Nicks appeared for a rendition of the Fleetwood Mac classic "Landslide" from 1975. Rodrigo had hinted before the festival that she was hoping to sing the song with Nicks, though she had been careful not to make any promises. Earlier in the set, Rodrigo also gave the live premiere of her new song "Serena Joy," a politically charged track inspired by The Handmaid's Tale that came out that week after initially being available only on 500 CDs sold at a record store near the festival.

Daisy Chain Fields was always meant to be more than a concert. Every performing artist waived their fee, and the festival raised a total of 10 million dollars for ten nonprofit organizations that advocate for women and girls, including Planned Parenthood, the National Women's Law Center, Black Mamas Matter Alliance and FreeFrom. The proceeds also go to organizations focused on reproductive rights, maternal health, gender equality and the protection of domestic violence survivors. Rodrigo said in a statement: "Daisy Chain Fields was created to celebrate the power of what can happen when we come together to support one another." Alongside the music, the festival also offered educational installations and community art projects around themes like economic empowerment and reproductive rights.

The festival took place at a moment when Rodrigo is at the peak of her career. Her third album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in June with 485,000 equivalent album units, the biggest opening week of 2026 for a solo artist. The lead single "drop dead" went straight to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, her fourth number one debut on that chart. That makes her the only artist other than Beyoncé whose first three studio albums all entered the Billboard 200 at number one while each album also produced a Hot 100 number one. Rodrigo will soon be heading out on her Unraveled Tour, with Wolf Alice and The Last Dinner Party among the support acts. The tour stops at the O2 Arena in London in May 2027, though Dutch fans are still waiting for an announcement a little closer to home.

The rest of the Daisy Chain Fields lineup was nothing to sneeze at either: Chappell Roan, Doechii, Mitski, Bikini Kill, The Breeders, Garbage, Santigold and Rachel Chinouriri were all on the bill. Devon Again joined the lineup after KATSEYE pulled out, following one of the group's members spraining her ankle during rehearsals.