Fan-Favorite Rock Band to Reunite More Than Decade After Breaking Up: Rilo Kiley to Play Just Like Heaven 2025

A prematurely revealed billboard on Los Angeles’ Sunset Boulevard has let slip some exciting news for indie rock fans: Rilo Kiley will reunite at the Just Like Heaven festival in 2025, marking their first proper performance together since going on hiatus in 2010.

According to Consequence of Sound, the lineup announcement for the nostalgia-focused festival was meant to be delayed due to the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires, but miscommunication led to the billboard being displayed in Echo Park anyway. The advertisement reveals that Rilo Kiley will share the bill with Vampire Weekend, Empire of the Sun, Bloc Party, and fellow reunited act TV on the Radio.

The band’s last significant collaboration came in 2021 when singer Jenny Lewis and lead guitarist Blake Sennett briefly reunited for Linda Perry‘s Rock-N-Relief livestream benefit. The pair performed “Let Me Back In,” a track from their 2013 compilation album RKives. Prior to that, their only joint appearance since the hiatus was at Coachella 2015, where Sennett joined Lewis onstage to perform “Portions For Foxes.”

When the band initially went on break in 2010, Sennett painted a grim picture of their future, telling Consequence of Sound: “I would say that if Rilo Kiley were a human being, he’s probably laying on his back in a morgue with a tag on his toe. Now, I see movies where the dead get up and walk. And when they do that, rarely do good things happen.”

However, recent signs have pointed toward a potential revival. The band has added new merchandise to their Bandcamp page and updated their profile photos on streaming platforms. Additionally, they reissued their rare self-titled debut album in 2020, making it available on streaming services for the first time since its 1999 release on their own Rilo Records label.

Lewis has also shown increasing openness to the idea of reunion. In a 2019 interview with NME, she responded enthusiastically to the possibility, saying, “Sure! I did a Postal Service reunion tour a couple of years ago, so I’m open to anything these days. My mantra is ‘Yes.’” Though in 2023, she tempered expectations by noting, “I’ve got a lot on my plate […] We’re not talking about it, but it’s not off the table.”

The festival is currently scheduled for May 10 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, though the date may shift due to the ongoing wildfire crisis in Los Angeles. The timing of the billboard’s appearance, while unintentional, has added an unexpected element to the announcement, as many similar events and reveals have been put on hold during the current emergency situation in Southern California.