Two decades in, one of the most unusual partnerships in music keeps doing what it set out to do: feed working musicians. Taco Bell has unveiled the Feed The Beat 20th Anniversary Class, 100 rising artists joining a program that’s backed more than 2,000 musicians since 2006. The roster runs wide, with This Is Lorelei, Gelli Haha, Ecca Vandal, The Two Lips, Cure for Paranoia, Cashier, MX Lonely, Cdubz, Bad Nerves, The Hellp, Lowertown, Terror, Chezile and Jai’Len Josey among the names spanning indie rock, hip-hop, country, electronic and hardcore.
The idea behind Feed The Beat has always been refreshingly plain. Musicians on tour need to eat, so the program started by handing artists $500 in Taco Bell gift cards to cover meals between shows, no contracts and no obligations. That ethos still drives it 20 years later.
The model has grown well past free food. Participating artists can land their music in Taco Bell content and events, plus amplification across the brand’s huge social presence. Nearly 200 Feed The Beat artists have featured in campaigns over the years, and the program champions inclusivity, staying free to submit and built to support artists for the long haul.
The pop culture moments speak for themselves. Doja Cat covered Hole’s ‘Celebrity Skin’ in the 2022 Big Game spot The Grande Escape, and Turnstile turned up across multiple campaigns, including the 2022 Nacho Fries spot and last year’s Luxe Cravings ad with Tony Hawk.
Last year the brand launched the Feed The Beat Record Club, letting Taco Bell Rewards Members claim an exclusive vinyl box through a Tuesday Drop in the app. Artists including 54 Ultra, Anxious, Doja Cat, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, hemlocke springs, Hot Mulligan, Magdalena Bay and Portugal. the Man have had albums featured, with a fifth edition dropping next month.
The new class joins an alumni network stacked with names who’ve gone on to big things, among them Noah Kahan, Mannequin Pussy, 100 Gecs, Dillon Francis, The All-American Rejects, NEIL FRANCES, Tanner Adell and RØZ, all of them just starting out when they got the call.
Tim Bergevin, Taco Bell’s Vice President of Entertainment, Energy, and Events Marketing, said it’s been incredible to watch the breadth of artists the program has supported, and that this class continues the commitment to fueling musicians on the road. Jon Landman, CBDO at The Syndicate, pointed to how rare the original concept was, a brand backing up-and-coming musicians across all genres without asking for anything back, and noted the goal has always been authentic relationships.
You can dig into the full 20th Anniversary Class at FeedTheBeat.com.