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While Foo Fighters make a triumphant return to Reading + Leeds this year (the band previously topped the bill in 2002, 2005, 2012 - and let's not forget frontman Dave Grohl's part in Nirvana's iconic 1992 headline performance either), the line-up boasts three brand new, first-time headline acts in The 1975, Post Malone, twenty one pilots.

Reading + Leeds has long been a place for acts to make the step-up to superstar status, with Kendrick Lamar headlining for the first time in 2018, Foals and Disclosure co-headlining in 2016 and Mumford & Sons conquering the Main Stage before that in 2015.

It's made us think: who will be the Reading + Leeds headliners of the future? Here are six candidates from this year's line-up who could return in a bill-topping slot in years to come.

• Reading + Leeds 2019 runs from 23-25 August. Find more information about this year's festival here

2019 has been a massive year for Billie Eilish. She topped the UK and US charts with her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, became the first artist born in the 21st century to have a No.1 album in the US and became the youngest female chart-topper in the UK, gaining fans in everyone from Dave Grohl and Thom Yorke to Justin Bieber and Tyler, the Creator.

This year, the 17 year-old has , delivered a high octane, show-stopping set at Glastonbury, and now looks to triumph once again at Reading + Leeds. But what does the future hold for the pop sensation? While Eilish herself isn't too concerned ("I don’t like to think about the future," she . "I just want to see what happens. I hope I make an impact"), you just know that the star is destined for even bigger and better things.

At just 21, Dave's career has been pretty eventful to date. An early Drake cosign has been followed by both a UK No.1 album and single, as well as a guest slot during Stormzy's Glastonbury headline set. He's proved himself to be one of Britain's most versatile stars, as adept at serving up club-friendly tunes as he is poignant, introspective raps, and his star is about to rise further with his upcoming role in Netflix's Top Boy revival.

But despite his success so far, the Streatham rapper isn't resting on any laurels. "I want to be an innovator," he . "I’ve started to focus my attention on things that I want to change." At this rate, a Reading + Leeds headline slot really doesn't seem that far off.

Stockport indie fivepiece Blossoms are already living out their childhood dreams, recently headlining a massive stadium gig in their hometown, which was . "It means so much to us," the band said, : "Oasis had Maine Road, Arctic Monkeys did Don Valley in Sheffield."

Could they soon make the step up to festival headline status? Well, the band themselves are in no rush - they'd rather be here for the long haul. "I think we see our success in longevity more than anything else," frontman Tom Ogden . "We want to be around for a long, long time, to still evolve as a band, to stay important to people. We’re still early on in our career, in terms of where we want to go; to be able to keep doing what we get to do will be a marker of having ‘made it’ as such."

As far as references go, they don't come much better than Mark Ronson vouching for you, which is exactly what New York experimental pop performer King Princess (real name Mikaela Straus) got when the pop mega-producer made her the first signing to his Zelig Records label.

But despite Ronson's guidance, Straus is adamant on remaining her own artist, : "I’m not a good listener, but I do try to listen to him because I like what he says. He cares." Her debut album, Cheap Queen, is due for release in October, with this year's Reading + Leeds crowd witnessing very much a star-in-waiting.

It's telling that, during his historic Glastonbury headline set, AJ Tracey was the first artist that came to Stormzy's mind when he was calling out all the current crop of exciting new talent in the UK. Could the Ladbroke Grove MC follow in Big Mike's big-booted footsteps and see himself headlining festivals in the future? We wouldn't bet against it.

After all, the rapper's early promise has already seen him rack up a Top 5 album and a flurry of charting singles that has led some to speculate that he'll be the first UK star to well and truly break America. As NME, who dubbed him , put it: "He's an outward-looking rapper who cherry-picks genres, whose music isn’t too bogged down in introspection and who has finessed impeccable timing". There's clearly no limit for AJ Tracey.

LA singer Hayley Kiyoko isn't yet a household name, but before long she very well could be. Gaining fame as a child star (which included Disney Channel acting roles, Justin Bieber support slots and a stint in a teen-pop band alongside RnB performer Tinashe), Kiyoko has spent the past few years growing an enormously dedicated fanbase that have bestowed upon her the nickname of "the Lesbian Jesus".

Her euphoric and uplifting electro-pop touches upon topics like female sexuality and empowerment, and it's not hard to see why she's so beloved by her followers. Not that Kiyoko herself was expecting this level of stardom at all. "I wasn’t planning on being here," she . "I’ve just been slowly stepping... and it’s built these building blocks, and I’m like, 'Oh, this is bigger than I thought it was.'" Don't be surprised if things start to get a whole lot bigger, too.

• Reading + Leeds 2019 runs from 23-25 August. Watch on 麻豆约拍 iPlayer. Listen on 麻豆约拍 Sounds.