| Global superstar, GRAMMY®-winning artist, and proud Chicago native Chance the Rapper has been announced as the Chicago co-host of ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026,” airing live on Tuesday, December 31 at 8/7c on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.
Chance will represent Chicago on the national stage, hosting the Central Time Zone countdown live from his hometown as part of the iconic broadcast that spans New York, Las Vegas, Puerto Rico, and beyond. He joins co-hosts Ryan Seacrest, Rita Ora, Rob Gronkowski, and Julianne Hough for the biggest night in televised celebration. In addition to co-hosting duties, Chance will be performing right before midnight to bring in the New Year, live from Wacker Drive.
This marks the first time a major segment of the show will be hosted live from Chicago by a Chicago native, and Chance plans to bring the city’s pride, energy, and culture directly into millions of living rooms across the country.
The announcement follows a standout year for Chance, who completed his “And We Back” North American tour and released his critically acclaimed album Star Line. The new album stands as one of Chance the Rapper’s greatest and most visionary projects to date—a career-defining release that debuted at #2 on Spotify’s Top Albums Debut USA Chart and #3 globally to widespread acclaim. Across 17 tracks, Chance blends sharp lyricism, cultural reverence, and bold sonic experimentation into a cohesive Black diasporic narrative, joined by collaborators including Joey Bada$$, Lil Wayne, Smino, Vic Mensa, BJ the Chicago Kid, Young Thug, Jamila Woods, Do or Die, Jazmine Sullivan, and more, with production from luminaries like Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, Peter CottonTale, and Nico Segal. Inspired by travels to Ghana, Jamaica, and global art fairs, Star Linechannels Marcus Garvey’s pioneering vision of the Black Star Line into a modern reflection on resilience, diasporic pride, and community, while the album’s striking visual identity, helmed by Brandon Breaux, the creative mind behind Chance’s iconic early artwork, cements this era as both a personal and cultural milestone.
“Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026” airs LIVE on ABC, Tuesday, December 31, 2025, beginning at 8:00 p.m. EST / 7:00 p.m. CST. |
