VSoachella kicked off this weekend in Indio, California with some of music’s biggest acts taking to the stage in the desert. Despite lackluster preparation for the festival, as evidenced by declining ticket sales, which took an entire month for tickets to be sold, and a 14-17% decline in sales this year, Billboard reported – this year’s sets have so far generated a lot of excitement ahead of Coachella’s second weekend. Headliners and artists brought in a series of surprise guests, building anticipation about who might come next weekend.
Lana Del Rey took the stage on Friday and brought Billie Eilish to perform two songs together. Tyler, the Creator invited four people to join him on stage Saturday, including Childish Gambino and A$AP Rocky. Doja Cat closed out the weekend on Sunday, where she also brought out A$AP Rocky and 21 Savage. But the headliners weren’t the only ones bringing guests. Reneé Rapp, No Doubt and J Balvin all brought in guests to surprise their fans.
Here are all the surprise guests who showed up at Coachella this year.
Billie Eilish, Jack Antonoff and Jon Batiste join Lana Del Rey
The sensual ballad arrived on her set while standing on the back of a motorcycle. Jack Antonoff played piano while a hologram of Del Rey performed “Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me, But I Have It.” Jon Batiste joined her on stage to play piano for her while she sang “Candy Necklace.”
Billie Eilish, who once called Del Rey an inspiration and idol, made a surprise appearance at the end of the set. In a full-circle moment, after the two spoke for an interview Review Last year, Eilish and Del Rey performed duets of their respective debut singles, Del Rey’s “Video Games” and Eilish’s “Ocean Eyes.” Both singers showered each other with praise. Del Rey called Eilish “the voice of our generation, the voice of your generation” and Eilish said Del Rey is “the reason half of you exist, including mine.”
Tyler, the Creator brings out Childish Gambino, A$AP Rocky, Charlie Wilson and Kali Uchis
Tyler, the Creator’s electrifying set piece began with him being catapulted out of a fake RV and bouncing around in a lush setting worthy of the Grand Canyon. He performed songs from all of his albums, including his hits “Yonkers” and “She” with Frank Ocean (sans Ocean, whose set divided fans last year. Tyler first surprised the audience with a appearance by Childish Gambino, who sang “Running Out of Time” with him When Gambino left the stage, Tyler said he “hated him” Then he brought out A$AP Rocky to perform two songs, theirs. duo from 2018, “Potato Salad” and the. flower boy cut, “Who Dat Boy.”
Charlie Wilson, the former lead singer of the Gap Band, joined Tyler on stage at the piano to sing a stripped-down version of “Earfquake,” which features Wilson’s background vocals. The last guest to take the stage with Tyler was Kali Uchis, with whom he collaborated on several songs. She came to perform a bit of their song “See You Again” towards the end of her set. Tyler never passes up an opportunity for drama: he performed “New Magic Wand” while strapped into a harness and defied gravity, climbing rocks and trying not to get “carried away” by the monstrous winds.
Doja Cat invited A$AP Rocky, Teezo Touchdown and 21 Savage as a whole
Doja Cat’s set, choreographed by Parris Goebel, the mastermind behind two Super Bowl performances, Rihanna in the 2023 set and Jennifer Lopez and Shakira in 2020, did not disappoint. Doja’s exhilarating performance is among the best reviewed on Weekend One, thanks in part to the fact that she’s not afraid to get a little weird. She leaned heavily on her last album, Scarlet, for the setlist – performing songs like “Demons,” “Gun” and “Attention” – as well as fan favorites like “Need To Know,” “Tia Tamaera” and “Agora Hills.” There were also some exciting surprise guests, including 21 Savage, who performed “nhie” with her; A$AP Rocky joined him to do “URRRGE!!!!!!” and rising star Teezo Touchdown made an appearance to do “MASC.”
No Doubt in duet with Olivia Rodrigo
No Doubt reunited for the first time in almost a decade. The group ran through their long list of hits, including “Don’t Speak,” “I’m Just a Girl” and “Sunday Morning.” To help them sing their turn-of-the-millennium hit, “Bathwater,” Gwen Stefani and the band brought in Gen Z’s favorite rocker, Olivia Rodrigo. The 21-year-old singer is currently on the GUTS world tour and made a stop in the desert to perform with the recently reunited group. She uploaded a post to Instagram with a caption saying, “I remember hearing “bathwater” for the first time when I had just started writing songs. It completely turned my world upside down and still inspires me today.
Peso Pluma, Becky G, Santa Fe Klan, Junior H and Arcángel
Mexican artist Peso Pluma took the stage in front of hundreds of adoring fans, delighted to see him represent his country. He performed his hits and was joined by other popular Latin music acts, including Becky G, who brought him out during her set in 2023. He returned the favor to “the first woman who helped in this industry,” he said during the set: and they performed their collaboration, “Chanel.” The set continued and he invited Junior H to perform their corrido tumbado collaboration, “El Azul”. Other guests included Santa Fe Klan, who performed “No Son Klle” with him and the final surprise guest was Arcángel, the Puerto Rican reggaeton artist, who performed “Peso Completo” with him on stage.
Shakira joins Bizarrap for two songs
Argentine producer and DJ Bizarrap quickly rose to fame thanks to his series of incredibly viral YouTube videos, in which he invited popular Latin artists to film music videos for a new song they would create together. In January last year, Shakira joined the show and caused a ruckus, addressing her ex-husband’s alleged infidelity through a scathing piece that was widely discussed. As a surprise, Shakira joined Bizarrap and performed their two songs, “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53” and their new song “La Fuerte”, taken from Shakira’s new album. She also took advantage of the filming to announce her “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran world tour”.
Renée Rapp released The Cast of The word Iand Kesha
Renée Rapp’s star has only reached new heights since the 24-year-old singer released her debut album Snow angel in August 2023, played a stunning set at Saturday Night Live, and led a sold-out tour. She made her Coachella debut in the most iconic way, with the cast of The word I, introducing her, before bringing in Kesha to perform “TikTok.” In this new rendition, however, they changed the lyrics referencing Sean “Diddy” Combs from “Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy” to “Wake up in the morning feeling like a fucking P .Diddy” and both stuck their middle fingers in the air. Multiple sexual assault lawsuits have been filed against Combs since November 2023.
Paris Hilton played cornhole with Vampire Weekend
Paris Hilton is known for enjoying a Coachella here and there, but has recently taken to performing as a DJ. However, she did not join to perform. Instead, she took the stage to play a game of cornhole with the band. “I haven’t played this game since The simple lifeso…” Hilton told the crowd before hugging Ezra Koenig and leaving.
Kevin Abstract and Sky Ferreira cover a country-pop classic
In a turn of events that no one really expected, former boy band BROCKHAMPTON member Kevin Abstract brought out Sky Ferreira to open the set with him, and they performed a rendition of “Need You Now” from Lady A. This was a surprise, given that the last project Ferreira released was her debut album. At night, my timein 2013. She gave her fans two singles, one in 2019 and another in 2022, but she couldn’t release anymore because of her “screwed up” situation with her label.
YG Marley hosted a mini reunion of the Fugees during his set, bringing out his mother, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Busta Rhymes.
During his set, rapper and singer YG Marley invited his mother, Ms. Lauryn Hill, on stage to perform with him and his former Fugees bandmate, Wyclef Jean. Her mother started by performing her song “Ex-Factor” from The Bad Education of Lauryn Hill, with Marley chiming in with a few improvisations here and there. She and Wyclef then performed a few Fugees songs, including “Killing Me Softly,” “Ready or Not” and “Fu-Gee-La.” There was also a section for a tribute to Bob Marley where they performed “One Love” and “Exodus”. The surprise guests didn’t stop there as Marley brought out rapper Busta Rhymes to do “Put Your Hand Where My Eyes Could See” and his verse on Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now.”
WizKid and Justin Bieber joined Tems to perform their 2021 hit
Nigerian superstar Tems made his Coachella debut this year and delivered a stunning performance, showcasing his equally impressive vocals. Before her set, she teased a surprise in a post on X, saying she was excited to share it. She shocked her fans with appearances from WizKid and Justin Bieber, her collaborators on their 2020 song, “Essence.” Bieber is particularly low following his Ramsay Hunt syndrome diagnosis in 2022, so it was a nice surprise to see him on stage.
Nelly Furtado fell over
Nelly Furtado’s comeback is in full swing as the singer begins releasing new music again. In 2023, Dom Dolla and Furtado released a song called “Eat Your Man”, and she was featured as a surprise guest. The crowd was excited to see her, but in the middle of her performance she fell face down, but she didn’t let that ruin her set. She stayed on track and performed the rest of the song without any problems. After leaving the stage, she took to Instagram to poke fun at herself and posted a photo of her bloody finger with the caption: “I literally left everything on stage…including my blood .”
