The Weeknd confirmed that he would replace Kanye West at Coachella next week, but on the condition that he be paid “Kanye money”. The last-minute gambit by the award-winning artist resulted in him getting one of the biggest payouts of his career. The Weeknd Demands The Same Pay As Kanye West For Coachella The Weeknd […]
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Megan Thee Stallion has been good to fans this year as she’s dropped a pair of singles so far in 2022: the Shenseea collaboration “Lick” and the Dua Lipa link-up “Sweetest Pie.” She has more new material ready to go, too, and she might event debut it when she performs as Coachella later this month, from April 15 to 17 and 22 to 24.
Megan teased these plans today, writing on Twitter, “I got this song that I recorded and every time I play it for a woman they start jumping and clapping [crying laughing emoji]. I think I wanna perform it at Coachella for the first time before I actually drop it.” She also noted in response to a Twitter user, “Guys be like ‘this sh*t hard’ but I think my girls just feel it in they spirit [crying laughing emoji].”
I got this song that I recorded and every time I play it for a woman they start jumping and clapping
I think I wanna perform it at Coachella for the first time before I actually drop it
— TINA SNOW (@theestallion) April 7, 2022
Guys be like “this shit hard” but I think my girls just feel it in they spirit
— TINA SNOW (@theestallion) April 7, 2022
Coachella is the latest event in a particularly busy period for Megan. She just picked up a Webby Award nomination, she and Dua Lipa presented together at the Grammys, she performed at the Oscars (becoming the first female rapper to do so), and she pie’d one of her dancers on stage at the iHeartRadio awards.
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The Weeknd scored a major payday after Kanye West backed out of Coachella.
A new report from TMZ claims that the DONDA rapper was being paid $8 million for his headlining gig at the festival before he pulled out at the last minute.
On Wednesday, Coachella officially announced The Weeknd as his replacement. The “Out of Time” singer will join Swedish House Mafia as a headliner on both Sundays of the two-weekend festival.
But the booking almost didn’t happen. According to Page Six, Coachella organizers did not want to pay The Weeknd the same $8 million as Ye, plus $500,000 in production costs. As a result, he allegedly threatened to pull out unless he was given the same amount.
“The Weeknd came in at short notice to take Kanye’s top spot. But Phil Anschutz [who owns the Coachella Festival through AEG Live] wanted to hold on to Kanye’s money and pay The Weeknd far less, just a few million. The festival would pocket the rest,” said a source.
“Even after Coachella announced the new lineup on Wednesday, a deal wasn’t in place for The Weeknd, who threatened to pull out at an hour’s notice if he didn’t get the same deal as Kanye.”
After “fraught negotiations,” the festival gave in to his demands and agreed to match the money. “Finally, on Wednesday — faced with the prospect of a second headline act pulling out of Coachella at the last minute — Anschutz’s company caved and agreed to pay The Weeknd the same money.”
Ye bailed on Coachella less than two weeks before showtime following rumors that he’s “going away to get help.” He had reportedly not been rehearsing for the performance, which usually takes months of preparation.
Other acts were also being considered for Ye’s slot including Silk Sonic, Travis Scott, Justin Bieber, and Doja Cat.
Next weekend, Coachella will hold its first festival since 2019 after the coronavirus pandemic canceled their 2020 and 2021 iterations. Kanye West, Billie Eilish, and Harry Styles were initially announced as headliners for the upcoming festival which will take over Indio, California during the weekends of April 15-17 and April 22-24. In normal times, Coachella would be conducting last-minute preparations to kick off the first of their two festival weekends, but a wrench was thrown into their plans when Kanye West dropped out earlier this week. This sent officials into a scramble to find a replacement, and luckily they were able to lock in The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia as the new headliners.
According to TMZ, Kanye West reportedly walked away from an $8 million payout by dropping out of Coachella. He also lost a $500,000 production fee by walking away from his headlining performances. For what it’s worth, Kanye is a billionaire so missing out on the 7-figure payment is most likely not that big of a concern for him. Thankfully for Coachella and all attendees, the situation has been fixed but it didn’t come without some tension during negations. Page Six, which sites a “music source,” says that The Weeknd threatened to also drop out as a headliner if he did not receive the same payment as Kanye.
“The Weeknd came in at short notice to take Kanye’s top spot. But Phil Anschutz [who owns the Coachella Festival through AEG Live] wanted to hold on to Kanye’s money and pay The Weeknd far less, just a few million,” the source told the publication. “The festival would pocket the rest […] Even after Coachella announced the new lineup on Wednesday, a deal wasn’t in place for The Weeknd, who threatened to pull out at an hour’s notice if he didn’t get the same deal as Kanye. Finally, on Wednesday — faced with the prospect of a second headline act pulling out of Coachella at the last minute — Anschutz’s company caved and agreed to pay the Weeknd the same money.”
Page Six notes that another source told them that Anschutz was not directly involved in negotiations to secure The Weeknd as a headliner.
Fresh off announcing a US stadium tour with Doja Cat for his last two albums, After Hours and Dawn FM, The Weeknd and frequent collaborator Swedish House Mafia are now set to replace Kanye West’s controversial dropout from the Coachella Festival, which starts next week. The first 4 months of 2022 have been an absolute […]
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Coachella has found its Kanye replacement.
The Weeknd will join Swedish House Mafia and headline Sunday night of the three-day festival, a slot previously occupied by Ye. According to TMZ, the “Out of Time” singer agreed to the gig after promoters scrambled to find a replacement at the last minute. Swedish House Mafia, who shares management with The Weeknd, was slated to headline Friday night but will now close out the festival.
It’s unclear exactly how the performance will work, if one will perform before the other, or if they will take turns. Given time contestants, The Weeknd’s set will likely be shorter than usual. Fans can expect them to perform their collaboration “Moth to a Flame,” which appears on the deluxe edition of The Weeknd’s album Dawn FM and SHM’s upcoming album Paradise Again, which drops April 15.
As previously reported, Ye pulled out of the festival with less than two weeks to go. It’s unclear why, but festival producers were reportedly blindsided by the cancelation.
Many names were been thrown around as possible replacements including Justin Bieber, Tyler, the Creator, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Doja Cat, who is currently on Sunday’s bill. Silk Sonic and Travis Scott reportedly turned down the gig because they didn’t have enough time to prepare a show.
Travis was originally set to headline the 2020 festival before it was canceled in the wake of the pandemic. Following the Astroworld tragedy in November, Coachella nixed his 2022 performance. However, it appears that promoters were willing to reignite talks with him.
Billie Eilish remains on Friday’s bill, while Harry Styles will headline Saturday night. Other performers throughout the back-to-back weekends include Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, Big Sean, 21 Savage, Baby Keem, and more.
See the revised Coachella lineup below.
Well, that was quick. Just days after Kanye West pulled out of headlining Coachella — allegedly to get his head on straight after months of juvenile social media antics — the festival has announced his replacement: A double act consisting of EDM supergroup Swedish House Mafia and ’80s pop revivalist The Weeknd.
Funnily enough, The Weeknd actually beat the actual festival in posting the new lineup on Twitter by about five minutes. That said, the fest’s official account quickly corroborated the new information by posting the flyer shortly after.
The Party & The After Party pic.twitter.com/8gT2bF3x5j
— Coachella (@coachella) April 6, 2022
In the wake of Kanye’s withdrawal from the festival, there was plenty of speculation about who could take his place, with some sources positing everyone from Doja Cat to Justin Bieber. With Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd, Coachella has found a pair of artists who collectively have the clout to fill the void left by West’s departure.
The Weeknd — who recently became the artist with the second-most diamond certifications in history — may use the headlining set as a dry run for his upcoming After Hours Til Dawn Tour with Doja Cat. The Canadian singer had pushed back the tour after finding that arenas were too constraining to do everything he wanted to do with the show, which will now take over stadiums in 18 cities, including his native Toronto.
