North West may still be just shy of her teenage years, but she carried herself onstage with striking confidence during a performance at Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash 2026 on Friday.
The 12-year-old, who turns 13 on June 15, drew plenty of attention at the music festival in Bridgeview, Illinois, just outside Chicago. The location added a personal note to the moment, as it is near the city where her father, Kanye West, grew up.
Kanye, 49, appeared to be every bit the proud father, reposting a clip of North performing TALKING, the pair’s 2024 collaboration from his album Vultures 1.
For the appearance, North leaned into a look that has quickly become part of her public image, wearing her long turquoise hair in sleek pigtails.
She completed the outfit with an all-black Balenciaga ensemble, along with a spiked choker and a diamond-covered chain, as she held the crowd’s attention throughout the set.
She was dressed in a black Balenciaga outfit and wore a spiky choker as well as a diamond-encrusted chain while she captivated her audience.
She’s barely a teenager, but Kim Kardashian’s daughter North West has the stage presence of a seasoned professional
The tween – whose 13th birthday is on June 15 – commanded attention as she performed at Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash 2026 music festival on Friday
And the youngster covered her eyes with thick, glossy, onyx sunglasses.
A clip distributed across the internet showed the crowd going wild as they jumped up and down to North’s thumping track.
Her last time on stage was in April when she joined her dad in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium.
She dropped new music earlier this year with her debut EP N0rth4Evr, which followed her debut single PIERCING ON MY HAND.
Kardashian spoke about North at length earlier this year while appearing on sister Khloe Kardashian’s Khloe In Wonder Land podcast.
She revealed that her daughter is homeschooled and involved in a hands-on music course.
‘At home she’ll do an eight-hour music studio session, where she’s producing and writing. I’ll add her writing out all of her lyrics as a part of her spelling tests.
‘We do all of the things at home that she really enjoys and are challenging,’ the billionaire mogul detailed.
Kanye West, 49, was a proud dad ahead of the weekend as he reposted a clip of his firstborn child singing their 2024 collaboration TALKING, off his album Vultures 1
A clip distributed across the internet showed the crowd going wild over the budding superstar
North pictured with mom Kim, 45, in April 2024
North has been locked in on her budding music career, with her mom revealing earlier this year that she has homeschool studio sessions
In addition to North, exes Kardashian and West share Saint, Chicago, and Psalm
Kardashian and ex-husband West tied the knot in Italy in 2014, less than one year after North was born.
The serial entrepreneur filed to divorce the Chicago-born rapper in February 2021 and the split was finalized in November 2022.
In addition to North they share sons Saint, 10, Psalm, seven, and Chicago, eight.
Kardashian often catches flack from fans who say she is too lenient with her oldest child.
She responded to the criticism elsewhere in the Khloe In Wonder Land episode from January.
The SKIMS founder staunchly defended North when asked if the scrutiny bothers her: ‘I’m just not a judgmental person like that, so I try not to pay attention to it.
‘But I think that no one knows, unless they’re in my shoes, what I’m dealing with and how we have to manage certain things from the outside world.’
The mom of four said there’s a misconception that she is trying to be her daughter’s ‘bestie’ and ‘lets her get away with a lot.’
‘No, Northie actually has a lot of rules. The one area [of freedom] is that I do let her express herself,’ she clarified.
