Shaquille O'Neal to headline DJ at Columbus music festival this fall
Watch a previous NBC4 report on O'Neal's upcoming Ohio eateries in the video player above.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Hall of Fame basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, who is opening a chain of restaurants in Ohio, is coming to Columbus this fall as the headlining DJ for an annual music festival.
DJ Diesel, O'Neal's alter ego known as "the biggest DJ in the world," is set to headline Haunted Fest at 6 p.m. on Oct. 25 at Kemba Live. The immersive, Halloween-themed festival played last year at the Ohio Expo Center, and has previously hired artists like deadmau5, Alesso, Kaskade and Marshmello to headline.
Haunted Fest is organized by Prime Social Group, the company also behind Breakaway Music Festival at the Historic Crew Stadium. General admission tickets are on sale now starting at $54.99, while VIP packages for $89.99 are also available.
O'Neal first entered the music scene with his debut album "Shaq Diesel" in 1993. Since then, he has released several other projects, including an album under the Diesel name, "Gorilla Warfare," which was released in 2023. As Diesel, O'Neal has headlined Tennessee's Bonnaroo, Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, and Lost Lands in Legend Valley, Ohio.
The former basketball star is DJing in Columbus as he is also gearing up to launch a chain of chicken sandwich eateries in Ohio. Big Chicken, a fast-food concept created by O’Neal in 2018, is expanding with 36 restaurants across the state after opening its first Ohio spot in the Dayton area in 2022. The exact locations and opening dates for the new eateries have yet to be announced.
The series of restaurants are inspired by O’Neal’s home-cooked childhood favorites, including the “Big & Sloppy” chicken sandwich with mac and cheese, fried onions and roasted garlic barbeque aioli. The “Shaq Attack” sandwich is also on the menu with pepper jack cheese, jalapeno slaw and spicy chipotle barbeque sauce.
Along with locations in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New York, Nevada, Texas, Tennessee and Washington, Big Chicken has locations on three Carnival cruise ships and offers nationwide shipping.