Charli XCX Joins The Strokes for Performance at Outside Lands Festival

Charli XCX appeared with The Strokes during their headlining set at Outside Lands on Aug. 8. They performed "Take It or Leave It." The pop star turned up at the San Francisco festival one day after she headlined the same stage.

"We've got a special little guest. A big guest. Well, a superstar," Julian Casablancas said before pointing out that both his band and Charli XCX released new albums on the same day in late July, according to Spin Magazine. "We had a great battle. You defeated us. Your new queen of everything: Charli XCX!"

The two artists swapped vocals on the track. It comes from the band's 2001 debut album, Is This It. Casablancas got down on one knee and told Charli XCX, "Congratulations. You have defeated us in album sales," according to Consequence.

Both musicians released albums on July 24. Music, Fashion, Film from the British pop star debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Reality Awaits from the New York band opened at No. 13. "Yep, she won. She won by a lot," Casablancas said after the performance, according to Rolling Stone.

This collaboration marks the second time the artists have worked together. Casablancas appeared on the rework of "Mean Girls" for the remix album, Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat, in 2024.

Outside Lands took place at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The festival continued on Aug. 9 with performances from Baby Keem, Death Cab for Cutie, Empire of the Sun, and Mariah the Scientist.

Charli XCX begins a fall North American arena tour on Sept. 11 in Philadelphia. She has dates scheduled through Oct. 23 in Las Vegas. The tour also includes stops in Brooklyn, Toronto, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.

The Strokes will be on the road through Dec. 5 at Brazil's Primavera Sound Sao Paulo. The band will finish the year having played their most shows in a 12-month period since 2006.