Coachella 2022 live: Billie Eilish brings out Paramore’s Hayley Williams as special guest
California festival is in full swing, with headline sets from Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.After a two-year absence, Coachella has made its highly anticipated return.
Located in Indio, California, the desert festival has gained popularity over the years for its glitzy Instagram-worthy dress code and major celebrity guest sightings.
The festival began its second weekend on Friday (22 April), following a lively first three days a week ago.
Harry Styles headlined on Friday night, delighting fans as he brought out Lizzo for his special guest (after duetting with Shania Twain last week). The singer and rapper joined him for a rendition of the One Direction song “What Makes You Beautiful”, as well as Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”.
Saturday’s (23 April) show was all about Billie Eilish, who teamed up with Hayley Williams for an acoustic version of Paramore’s “Misery Business”. However, soon after Williams left the stage, Eilish tripped over and fell flat on her face. “You guys, I seriously ate s***,” she told the crowd. “Seriously. It was pitch black.”
Read more:
- Harry Styles review: Cheesy chat, One Direction hits and a cameo from country queen Shania Twain
- Coachella 2022 Day 2 talking points: From a surprise Gorillaz appearance to The Simpsons theme, live!
- Maneskin Q&A: ‘Our new single was inspired by Ukraine – we wanted to raise our voice for something meaningful’
- The Weeknd sparks speculation over mystery voice note played during Sunday headliner set
- Teenage fan invited on stage to perform with Dave revealed to be the son of ‘Notting Hill’ director Richard Curtis
Find all the updates from this year’s festival below
A lighthearted moment from the second night of the festival...
After joining Billie Eilish on stage for a rendition of her song “Getting Older”, Blur’s Damon Albarn appears to sing the wrong lyrics.
It was a little snafu that didn’t escape the attention of viewers, though judging by Eilish’s reaction the singer saw the funny side.
You can watch the clip here...
Danny Elfman’s set sounded like a lot of fun.
Spider-Man, Edward Scissorhands, The Simpsons... and just take a look at this backdrop!
Here’s Kevin EG Perry’s full review of Billie Eilish’s record-breaking performance at Coachella last night.
Kind of blown away by how good the headline is on this one.
(But the rest of the piece is well worth a read too!)
Billie Eilish triumphs at Coachella 2022 with Gorillaz in her midst – review
The 20-year-old pop sensation showed composure beyond her years at the California festival, delivering a performance of power and verve that made smart use of cameos from artists including Blur’s Damon Albarn and R&B star Khalid
Our full review of Megan Thee Stallion’s set from earlier, and it was something of a mixed bag for Leonie Cooper...
Chock-full of sex positivity and oh, so much twerking, the set was dulled a little by an overlong costume change and a complete lack of special guests.
Read the full write-up here...
Megan Thee Stallion’s twerk-filled Coachella set didn’t all work – review
The Texan rapper gave a sensual but forceful performance at the California music festival on Saturday night, but a five-minute costume change, a lacklustre hype man and a lack of guest collaborators made it all something of a missed opportunity
Leonie Cooper presents a rundown of the biggest talking points from Coachella day two.
We’ve had guest appearances, Billie-mania and even a showing for a classic TV cartoon theme.
Read all about it below...
Day 2 Coachella highlights – from a surprise Gorillaz appearance to Billie mania
Day two of the Californian music festival featured a number of other surprise guest appearances, including by Chinese megastar Jackson Wang, and Billie Eilish’s history-making headliner set
As part of Kevin EG Perry’s Billie Eilish review, which will be shared here as soon as it’s live, he reflects on the singer-songwriter’s first Coachella outing, back when she was just 17.
“It was a set was blighted by technical mishaps: she arrived onstage over half an hour late, forgot some of the words to ‘All the Good Girls Go to Hell’ and, worst of all, brought out special guest Vince Staples for ‘&Burn’, only for his microphone to entirely fail to work and leave him rapping in silence.
“Still, she had fond memories of that weekend too. After all, it was backstage here in Indio that Eilish met her teen idol Justin Bieber. In footage captured for RJ Cutler’s 2021 documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, the pair meet and embrace for the first time.
“Eilish had grown up worshipping the Canadian singer, who is eight years her senior, and the moment marked a sort of emotional crossing of the Rubicon for Eilish as she was quite literally welcomed into the world of pop superstardom by the icon she’d deified.”
More to come shortly!
We’ll have our full review of Eilish’s set going up very shortly.
In the meantime, people have been sharing their thoughts on social media.
The 20-year-old became the youngest person ever to headline Coachella tonight. The festival’s official account summed it up pretty nicely: “Unbillievable”
Damon Albarn’s guest spot during Billie Eilish’s set also prompted bemused reactions from some fans, with many writing on Twitter that they weren’t sure who he was.
Albarn (whose core demographic, it has to be said, skews a good bit older than Eilish’s) was mistaken for Eilish’s dad, as well as Elton John.
Not sure he’ll neccesarily be too flattered by that.
Read the full story below...
Coachella fans mistake Damon Albarn for ‘Billie Eilish’s dad’ during guest appearance
Blur frontman was also amusingly mistaken for Elton John
Fans of Megan Thee Stallion were left somewhat confused during her Saturday set, after the singer appeared to vanish mid-way through her set.
In what was believed to be a particularly difficult costume change, the singer walked off and took minutes to come back on, prompting some viewers to question whether she had “bailed”.
Read more below...
Fans confused as Megan Thee Stallion disappears from stage during Coachella debut
Singer vanished from the stage in what some have speculated was a protracted costume change
Billie Eilish and Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn perform ‘Feel Good Inc’
Damon Albarn wanders onstage to join Billie Eilish who is midway through “Getting Older”.
The 20-year-old later introduces him afterwards as Gorrillaz’s Damon Albarn who “changed her life” and is “literally a genius”, before they team up for a performance of “Feel Good Inc”.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments