Part of the fun of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is finding out which guest stars will take the stage.
Past festivals have hosted surprise artists like Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, boygenius and Ciara. And this year was no different. From Olivia Rodrigo to Will Smith, this year’s festival was full of surprises.
Here’s a look at the artists who surprised fans during Weekend 1 of Coachella 2024:
Billie Eilish, Jon Batiste and Jack Antonoff
Headliner Lana Del Rey had several special guests during her set Friday night to keep fans wanting more. She kicked things off by tapping Jon Batiste for their “Candy Necklace” collaboration. She sang sitting at her piano, and later she let Batiste take control of the song, and they began improvising lyrics.
But that wasn’t all. Del Rey then welcomed former headliner Billie Eilish for a duet of the two-time Academy Award-winning song “Ocean Eye” and Del Rey’s “Video Games.” The ladies looked lovingly at each other as they sang, and Del Rey called Eilish “the voice of our generation.”
The headliner then welcomed producer and songwriter friend Jack Antonoff for “Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me,” on which he played piano.
Shakira
Global superstar Shakira made an appearance on Argentine producer Bizarrap’s set at the Sahara tent on Friday night, bringing her world-famous breakaway song to the festival and announcing an upcoming world tour – which just so happens to kick off locally at the Acrisure Arena.
The crowd, already excited at the start of Bizarrap’s DJ set, became completely enraptured when the Colombian star appeared to perform “La Fuerte,” a collaboration with the producer, for the first time. She followed him with her Flight. 53 from the Bzrp Sessions, a scathing dissident song aimed at her ex-husband Gerard Piqué, appearing about halfway through the hour-long set.
Busta Rhymes and The Fugees partial reunion with Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean
It was a good weekend for hip-hop fans.
During his Coachella debut on Sunday, YG Marley brought out his mother, Ms. Lauryn Hill, and Wyclef Jean for a partial Fugees reunion on the Coachella stage. Fans clapped with joy as they played classics like “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” “Fu-Gee-La,” and “Ready or Not.” Busta Rhymes also took the stage to perform two songs, “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” and his verse from “Look At Me Now.”
This wasn’t the first time Marley played with Hill. He began performing his hit song “Praise Jah in the Moonlight” at his concerts before its release.
Donald Glover, A$AP Rocky, Kali Uchis and Charlie Wilson
Tyler, the Creator brought out several musical guests – Donald Glover, A$AP Rocky, Charlie Wilson and Kali Uchis – during his colorful headliner and on the Coachella stage. Glover’s appearance was perhaps the most surprising, as the star who records music under the name Childish Gambino has not made any recent music with Tyler. The two performed a beautiful rendition of “RUNNING OUT OF TIME,” from the 2019 album “Igor.”
Guests continued as rapper A$AP Rocky took the stage to perform “Potato Salad,” followed by “Who Dat Boy,” with flashing green spaceship graphics moving across the desert-themed stage. Tyler was then joined by Charlie Wilson, a 71-year-old singer-songwriter who has worked with many famous R&B and hip-hop artists, to perform a piano version of “EARFQUAKE,” before pop star Kali Uchis only appears on stage briefly to sing the chorus of their hit collaboration, “See you next time.”
Kesha
On Sunday, five songs into her already electric set, Reneé Rapp (of the recent viral “Mean Girls” press tour) introduced a special guest with the words “Please welcome the one I consider to be the most sexy ever, KESHA!” The crowd roared, of course, and the two proceeded to duet with Kesha’s iconic (or at least iconic to us millennials) banger from 2010, “TiK ToK.” The 37-year-old singer stepped out wearing a white tank top with the words “I am mother” and quickly proved that she is indeed a mother, when she changed the opening words to “Wake up in the morning like a piece of shit.” **P Diddy” instead of “feel like P Diddy,” a clear reference to the rapper’s recent sexual assault accusations and the search of his home by Homeland Security.
DJ Pee .Wee (aka Anderson .Paak) and SOFI TUKKER
DJ Pee .Wee, who is the DJ alias of rapper and singer Anderson .Paak, played the closing set on the Do LaB stage on Friday of Weekend 1. He also surprised the audience with guests during his own surprise set, which included Cordae, Freddie Gibbs and MARIO. He also headlined Coachella’s famous after party, Neon Carnival, on Saturday night.
Also on Friday, Do Lab curators surprised festival-goers with a performance by SOFI TUKKER, the dynamic New York EDM duo of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern who played the Outdoor Theater at Coachella 2023.
Billie Eilish (again) and Tyga
Billie Eilish (along with her brother FINNEAS) surprised fans with a second appearance at Coachella, when she took over the Do LaB stage on Saturday and played three songs from her unreleased album “Hit Me Hard And Soft” in between a few songs from popular celebration. One had the lyrics “I can eat this girl for lunch. Yeah, she dances on my tongue. Looks like she could be the one.” Tyga also came out to give a live performance of “Rack City.”
David Guetta
Bebe Rexha took the Coachella stage on Sunday and fans were expecting a surprise guest or two during her set. She delivered on her promises by inviting French DJ and frequent collaborator David Guetta on stage for their song “I’m Good (Blue)”. Guetta said the duo was going to make Coachella “the biggest club in the world,” which would have fans singing and dancing.
Will Smith
The trippy, otherworldly space visuals that provided an undeniably epic backdrop for J Balvin’s set on Sunday took on new thematic meaning when the Reggaeton star brought out iconic rapper and actor Will Smith.
Smith appeared as a literal man in black while dressed in his character’s clean suit and sunglasses from the popular ’90s film and received an enthusiastic welcome from the crowd who did nothing but getting more and more excited as he began to rap along to the iconic song from the film. theme song.
During the scene, Balvin also seemed to get carried away by other “Men in Black” agents, while someone next to me said he seemed to pull out a neutralizer, the famous memory erasing device of the film. Let’s hope he didn’t actually use it, because that appearance was unforgettable.
Olivia Rodrigo
Midway through Saturday’s No Doubt reunion, the crowd roared as none other than popstar Olivia Rodrigo took the stage while wearing an I Heart ND shirt. She joined singer Gwen Stefani for a rendition of No Doubt’s song “Bathwater” about always choosing the wrong man, proving that even though the ’90s were before she was born, Liv can still appreciate the music of her elders . .
Rodrigo was only on stage for one song, and the rest of the night was a No Doubt chartbuster. Few bands can close with a trio of jams from the same album like “Just a Girl,” “Don’t Speak” and “Spiderwebs,” but No Doubt can.
Becky G, Junior H, Santa Fe Klan and Arcángel
As one of the biggest names in music right now, it was no surprise that Peso Pluma had a surprise guest (or four) up his sleeve for his Friday night set at Coachella. He began his surprises with an appearance from Becky G, who returned the favor after Peso Pluma appeared on his set last year, with the duo playing their 2023 song, “Chanel.”
Peso Pluma then brought out his frequent collaborator Junior H, with the two performing their song “El Azul,” and he then welcomed Santa Fe Klan, a Mexican rapper who is set to deliver his own set at Coachella on Saturday. The surprises ended with the presence of Argentinian rapper Arcángel for a first performance of their song “PESO COMPLETO”, which they released shortly before the start of the festival.
Justin Bieber
This one takes the cake for the performance we’re most upset to have missed. On Sunday, Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems brought out Justin Bieber (who had been spotted in the crowd at numerous performances throughout the weekend) to sing his hit “Essence,” which peaked at No. 9 place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart after its release. of the remix version with Bieber.
Other surprise guests at Coachella 2024 Weekend 1
- The Joy, 21 Savage and Teezo Touchdown during Doja Cat’s set
- Bonobo (surprise in the Do Lab with the artist from earlier in the day, Barry Can’t Swim)
- Robin S, Peso Pluma and Kodak Black during DJ Snake’s set
- Playground during Saint Levant’s set
- Desert Cahuilla Bird Singers during Blur’s set
- Paris Hilton during the Vampire Weekend set (just to play cornhole anyway…)
- Katy Perry during Mia Moretti’s set at Do LaB
- Big Sean during his partner Jhené Aiko’s set
- Towa Bird during her partner Reneé Rapp’s set
- Grimes during her partner Anyma’s set
This story includes previous reporting by Desert Sun reporters Paul Albani-Burgio, Niki Kottmann and Shad Powers.