Coachella 2024: Weekend 1 surprise guests include Billie Eilish, Shakira, Olivia Rodrigo
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Part of the thrill of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is finding out what guest stars will be coming out on stage.
Past festivals have had surprise performers 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 that surprised fans during Coachella 2024 Weekend 1:
Billie Eilish, Jon Batiste and Jack Antonoff
Headliner Lana Del Rey had multiple special guests during her set Friday night to keep fans wanting more and more. She kicked things off by bringing out Jon Batiste for their collaboration “Candy Necklace.” She sang seated on top of his piano, and later she let Batiste take control of the song, and they started ad libbing lyrics.
But that wasn't all. Del Rey then welcomed past headliner Billie Eilish for a duet of the two-time Oscar winner's song "ocean eyes" and Del Rey's "Video Games." The ladies looked lovingly at each other while they sang, and Del Rey called Eilish "the voice of our generation."
Billie Eilish joins Lana Del Rey at #Coachella to perform “Video Games.” pic.twitter.com/GwqYGhkQLt
— IndieWire (@IndieWire) April 13, 2024
The headliner then welcomed producer and songwriting pal Jack Antonoff for "Hope is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman like Me to Have," on which he played the piano.
Shakira
Global superstar Shakira made a guest appearance at Argentine producer Bizarrap’s set at the Sahara tent Friday night, bringing her world-famous diss song to the festival and announcing an upcoming world tour — that just so happens to kick off locally at Acrisure Arena.
The crowd, already energized throughout the start of Bizarrap’s DJ set, became fully rapturous when the Colombian star emerged to first perform “La Fuerte,” a collaboration with the producer. She followed it with her Vol. 53 of the Bzrp sessions, a scathing diss song aimed at her ex-husband Gerard Piqué, appearing about halfway through the hour-long set.
Busta Rhymes and a partial reunion of the Fugees with Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean
It was a good weekend for hip-hop fans.
During his Coachella debut Sunday, YG Marley brought out his mother, Ms. Lauryn Hill, and Wyclef Jean for a partial reunion of the Fugees on the Coachella Stage. Fans were cheering with joy as they played classics like "Killing Me Softly With His Song," "Fu-Gee-La" and "Ready or Not." Busta Rhymes also came out on 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 performed with Hill. He started performing his hit song "Praise Jah in the Moonlight" at her concerts before it was released.
Donald Glover, A$AP Rocky, Kali Uchis and Charlie Wilson
Tyler the Creator brings out Donald Glover at Coachella🔥🙌 pic.twitter.com/IA1m8PawqT
— MuchMusic (@Much) April 14, 2024
Tyler, the Creator brought out several musical guests — Donald Glover, A$AP Rocky, Charlie Wilson and Kali Uchis — over the course of his colorful headlining et on the Coachella Stage. The appearance from Glover was perhaps the most surprising, as the star who records music as Childish Gambino hasn't made any recent music with Tyler. The two performed a lovely rendition of "RUNNING OUT OF TIME," from the 2019 album, "Igor."
The guests continued when rapper A$AP Rocky came on stage to perform “Potato Salad,” followed by “Who Dat Boy," with flashing green spaceship graphics moving over the desert-themed stage. Tyler was then joined by Charlie Wilson, a 71-year-old singer-songwriter who’s worked with many famous R&B and hip-hop artists, to play a piano-heavy version of “EARFQUAKE," before pop star Kali Uchis briefly appeared on stage to sing the chorus from their hit collaboration, "See You Again."
Kesha
Five songs into her already electric set Sunday, Reneé Rapp (of recent "Mean Girls" viral press tour fame) introduced a special guest with the words "please welcome who I consider the hottest person ever, KESHA!" The crowd of course roared, and the two broke into a duet of Kesha's iconic (or at least iconic for us millennials) 2010 banger "TiK ToK." The 37-year-old songstress came out wearing a white tank with the words "I Am Mother," and quickly proved that she is, indeed, Mother, when she changed the opening words to "Wake up in the mornin' like f*** P Diddy" instead of "feelin like P Diddy," a clear reference to the rapper's recent sexual assault accusations and home raid by Homeland Security.
DJ Pee .Wee (aka Anderson .Paak) and SOFI TUKKER
DJ Pee .Wee, which is the DJ alias for rapper and singer Anderson .Paak, played the closing set at the Do LaB stage on Friday of Weekend 1. He also surprised audiences with guests at his own surprise set, which included Cordae, Freddie Gibbs, and MARIO. He also headlined famed Coachella after party Neon Carnival on Saturday night.
Also on Friday, the Do Lab curators surprised festivalgoers with a performance by SOFI TUKKER, the dynamic EDM duo from New York City made up of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern who played the Outdoor Theatre at Coachella 2023.
More of Billie previewing "LUNCH" at her "Billie & Friends" set at #Coachella ! 👀
📸: hungrycaterpillar via TikTok pic.twitter.com/TUj2xsup61— Billie Eilish Tours (@billieeilishtrs) April 14, 2024
Billie Eilish (again) and Tyga
Billie Eilish (with 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 some popular party songs. One of them had the lyrics "I can eat that girl for lunch. Yeah, she dances on my tongue. Tastes 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 fully expecting a surprise guest or two during her set. She delivered by inviting French DJ and frequent collaborator David Guetta onto the stage for their song "I'm Good (Blue)." Guetta said the duo was going to turn Coachella into "the biggest club in the world," which got fans singing and dancing.
Bebe Rexha and David Guetta singing Im Good live at Coachella 🔥 pic.twitter.com/BfzEoaJLTN
— Martin (@Martin784512) April 15, 2024
Will Smith
The trippy otherworldly space visuals that provided an undeniably epic backdrop for J Balvin’s set on Sunday took on newfound thematic significance when the Reggaeton star brought out the iconic rapper and actor Will Smith.
Smith appeared as a literal man in black as he was dressed in the clean-cut suit and sunglasses of his character from the famous '90s film and received a rapturous welcome from the crowd that only grew more excited as he began rapping to the movie’s iconic theme song.
During the scene, Balvin also appeared to be mock carried away by other "Men in Black" agents while someone standing by me said he seemed to pull out a neutralizer, the famous memory-wiping device from the movie. Hopefully he didn’t actually use it, however, as this appearance was one to remember.
Olivia Rodrigo
Midway through No Doubt's Saturday reunion, the crowd screeched as none other than popstar Olivia Rodrigo hit the stage while wearing an I Heart ND shirt. She joined frontwoman Gwen Stefani for a back-and-forth rendition of the No Doubt 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.
No Doubt and Olivia Rodrigo perform "Bathwater" at #Coachella 😍❤️ pic.twitter.com/0nvNlQjBNJ
— Cat 😽✨ (@GxCat26) April 14, 2024
Rodrigo only was on stage for the one song, and the rest of the night was a No Doubt hit parade. Not many 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 at her set last year, with the duo playing their 2023 song, “Chanel.”
Peso Pluma sobre Becky G…
“Ella fue la primera mujer qué me brindo la Mano en esta industria” 🥹💙 #Coachella pic.twitter.com/txcBbBuVKi— a 🪐 (@okayimdonebye) April 13, 2024
Peso Pluma then brought out his frequent collaborator Junior H, with the two playing their song, “El Azul,” and he later welcomed Santa Fe Klan, a Mexican rapper slated to deliver his own set at Coachella on Saturday. The surprises concluded with an appearance from Argentinian rapper Arcángel for a debut performance of their song, “PESO COMPLETO,” which they released shortly before the festival began.
Justin Bieber
This one takes the cake for performance we're most upset we missed. On Sunday, Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems brought out Justin Bieber (who had been spotted in the crowd of many performances throughout the weekend) to sing her hit "Essence," which peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart following the release of the remix version with Bieber.
justin bieber came out to perform with tems at her coachella set!🔥👇 pic.twitter.com/zzt61hqg5M
— Genius (@Genius) April 15, 2024
Other surprise guests at Coachella 2024 Weekend 1
The Joy, 21 Savage and Teezo Touchdown during Doja Cat's set
Bonobo (surprise set in the Do Lab with performer from earlier in the day, Barry Can't Swim)
Robin S, Peso Pluma and Kodak Black during DJ Snake's set
Playyard during Saint Levant's set
Desert Cahuilla Bird Singers during Blur's set
Dominic Fike during Kevin Abstract's set
Paris Hilton during Vampire Weekend's set (just to play cornhole though ...)
Katy Perry during Mia Moretti’s set at the Do LaB
Big Sean during partner Jhené Aiko's set
Towa Bird during partner Reneé Rapp's set
Grimes during partner Anyma's set
Grimes & Anyma (The Last Artists) performing live at Coachella tonight pic.twitter.com/fNeBThwQTN
— GrimesUpdates (@grimesupdatezsz) April 15, 2024
This story includes previous reporting by Desert Sun journalists Paul Albani-Burgio, Niki Kottmann and Shad Powers.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella: Weekend 1 guests include Billie Eilish, Shakira, Olivia Rodrigo