Forgoing the usual infield music festival for the first time in years, the 150th Preakness Stakes is turning to Grammy winners to entertain attendees.

On May 17, Wyclef Jean and T-Pain will perform on the relocated stage that will now face toward the Pimlico Race Course’s grandstand, organizers announced Thursday.

Jean, a co-founder of the Fugees and a solo artist with nine full-length albums, will perform his set during the festivities, including a song during the NBC broadcast. After the final race of the Triple Crown event, T-Pain, the veteran hitmaker who earned rave reviews at last month’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, will close the event.

Jean previously performed at Preakness in 2020, when the Triple Crown race was rescheduled from May to October due to the coronavirus pandemic. T-Pain last performed in Baltimore in June for his “Mansion In Wiscansin Party” tour at Pier Six Pavilion. The “Buy U A Drank” singer also performed at M&T Bank Stadium during halftime of the 2024 AFC Championship game between the Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Grandstand ticketholders will have a direct view of the stage’s new location, which will be positioned just north of the cupola and beneath an LED board, while guests in VIP areas like the Finish Line Suites and the Chalet will also be able to see Jean and T-Pain perform. Attendees in other areas, including the new Infield Fan Zone, can watch the performances via live streams on screens.

The Infield Fan Zone replaces the music festival-like atmosphere in the infield with a party hosted by former Raven Ray Lewis under a 22,000-square-foot covered tent. It will accommodate about 3,000 people, significantly fewer than at the festival in the past.

Attendance at the Preakness has waned in the years since the pandemic. An announced crowd of 131,256 attended the event in 2019, but in the last few years, attendance has not exceeded 47,000.

That’s partially by design, Preakness organizers have said, given the limitations of the aging Pimlico. But 2025 is expected to draw more people, said Bill Knauf, president of the new Maryland Jockey Club nonprofit.

During a Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority meeting on April 25, Knauf said he had heard from The Stronach Group, which is operating this Preakness, that “ticket sales are going extremely well compared to previous years.”

Authority board member Chuck Tildon called the increase in ticket sales a “head scratcher,” since 2025 marks the first time in more than 15 years that there will not be a traditional music festival. Typically, artists — who performed to a gathered throng in the infield — were announced for the festival by early April.

Knauf attributed the increase in ticket sales to two reasons: the iconic nature of the event’s 150th installment and the chance to see the final Preakness at historic Pimlico.

“I think those factors are driving the bus,” Knauf said.

A Preakness-affiliated concert — featuring DJ D-Nice, Jadakiss, Too Short and Deborah Cox — will also be held May 14 at Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore.

In 2024, rapper Jack Harlow headlined the infield festival, which kicked off after the races were finished and featured a lineup that leaned heavily on DJs.