Kanye West — who now goes by Ye — has been tapped to headline Sunday night at this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and might also stage a second Sunday Service performance a source tells Billboard. Billie Eilish is also in talks to headline the event — likely Friday — sources confirms.
The headliner news comes after a chaotic 48 hours for festival organizer Goldenvoice as it moves artists in and out of the event’s three headliner slots, originally set for the 2020 iteration that was postponed several times during the pandemic. Billboard has confirmed that previous headliners Travis Scott and Rage Against the Machine will no longer headline the 2022 edition of the festival after originally being tapped for the 2020 show. Scott was effectively dropped from the lineup following the tragic death of 10 attendees at his Astroworld festival in Houston on Nov. 5.
Goldenvoice is also considering moving Swedish House Mafia out of the headliner slot, Billboard has learned, as organizers evaluate all of their options for the two weekend festival, April 15-17 and April 22-24 at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, Calif.
Both Ye and Eilish’s agreements still have to be finalized, and while a Sunday Service-style performance is still being considered, a return of the church-like event after it first debuted at the festival in 2019 has generated significant buzz.
Ye previously headlined the 2011 edition of Coachella, while Eilish performed at the festival in 2019 — the last year the festival was held. Swedish House Mafia performed in 2012.
TMZ and Variety first reported the news of Billie and Ye’s bookings, respectively.
The 2020 edition – which Rage Against the Machine, Scott and Frank Ocean were slated to headline – was moved to October 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic before being scrapped altogether; the 2021 festival was also canceled. In August, it was revealed that Ocean would instead headline the festival in 2023, leaving the third headliner slot open.
While Ye and Eilish are certainly big gets for the festival, some observers are now questioning the viability of Coachella’s April dates — which were set last June — amid skyrocketing coronavirus infections due to the highly-contagious omicron variant. Earlier Wednesday (Jan. 5), the Recording Academy postponed its 2022 Grammys ceremony, which had been slated for Jan. 31. Sources tell Billboard it may now be held sometime in the spring.
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