coachella

Kanye West, Billie Eilish, And Harry Styles Were Announced As The Official Headliners For Coachella’s 2022 Festival

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After months of speculation and two aborted attempts to bring it back, Coachella will make its return this year. The showcase has officially announced its headliners and it’s different than originally intended. Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, and Rage Against The Machine were set to headline, but Frank moved his set to the 2023 show while Travis Scott and Rage Against The Machine were dropped from the bill. Now, Coachella has revealed that Kanye West, Billie Eilish, and Harry Styles will take over as headliners.

West and Eilish were very busy last year. West released his tenth album, Donda, which became his tenth to top the charts. Meanwhile, Eilish’s second album, Happier Than Ever, spent three consecutive weeks at No. 1. As for Styles, he’s been fairly quiet lately, his most recent being Fine Line in 2019. That album topped the charts and gave him a No. 1 single with “Watermelon Sugar,” which also received a 2021 Grammy Award in the Best Pop Solo Performance category.

Other performers at the festival will include Lil Baby, Big Sean, Baby Keem, Phoebe Bridgers, Daniel Caesar, Megan Thee Stallion, 21 Savage, Giveon, Doja Cat, Ari Lennox, City Girls, Brockhampton, Isaiah Rashad, JID, Denzel Curry, Vince Staples, and more.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Coachella 2022 Reportedly Confirms Ye, Harry Styles, And Billie Eilish As Headliners

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By the time Coachella officially opens their gates to gleeful music lovers this spring, it will have been three years since the last time the Indio, California festival took place. As one of the more buzzworthy music events of the year, there had been much speculation about which performers organizers would book to headline the anticipated 2022 event. Rumors alleged that musicians like Billie Eilish and Ye would be invited to headline in addition to Swedish House Mafia, but fans weren’t sure who the fourth closing act would be. On Wednesday, Coachella organizers reportedly confirmed that, along with Billie Eilish, Ye, and Swedish House Mafia, Harry Styles will be invited to headline their 2022 iteration.

The report comes through Billboard, which claims to have received confirmation from a source at Coachella. Apparently, a poster was making the rounds on the internet which alleged headliners Ye, Eilish, Styles, and Swedish House Mafia.

It wouldn’t be the first time some of the musicians have taken the Coachella stage. Eilish performed music from her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? at Coachella 2019. Meanwhile, Ye was invited to take over a nearby field to share an installment of his Sunday Service gospel event.

Coachella 2022 will once again take place over two weekends to accommodate for the massive number of music fans who hope to attend. It kicks off the weekend of April 15 to 17 and continues the next weekend, April 22 to 24. Tickets sold out pretty much as soon as they were made available, but fans can still join a waitlist in hopes of securing a ticket.

Kanye West Will Reportedly Headline Coachella’s 2022 Festival With Billie Eilish

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Coachella’s 2022 festival is just three months away, and it seems like organizers have finalized their lineup. Those who were once supposed to headline —Travis Scott, Rage The Machine, and Frank Ocean — wound up not working out. But organizers appear to have found their replacements. Last fall, Swedish House Mafia already confirmed an appearance, reportedly as headliners. Earlier today, TMZ reported that Billie Eilish signed on to the festival to replace Travis Scott. This leaves one remaining open spot for a headliner and it’s reportedly being taken by Kanye West.

Variety reports that Kanye will serve as the headliner for the respective Sunday editions of the festival, which takes place on the weekends of April 15-17 and April 22-24. Billie Eilish will headline on Saturday for the respective weekends. Variety also reports that it’s unclear if Swedish House Mafia will serve as the festival’s third headliner, their traditional “throwback” slot which is often reserved for a veteran artist or group to reunite at the showcase.

While it will be Billie’s first time performing at Coachella since 2019, it would be Kanye’s first time headlining since 2011. The news comes after Kanye said he is planning another show, this one at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It would be his second show in as many months after he and Drake over the Los Angeles Coliseum for their Larry Hoover benefit concert.

Billie Eilish Is Reportedly Coachella 2022’s Next Headliner After Travis Scott Was Allegedly Dropped

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By the time Coachella music festival opens its gates in 2022, it will have been three years since the last time the event took place. Fans have been looking forward to the massive California festival for quite some time, which is why tickets to this year’s event have already sold-out despite their full lineup not being announced yet. What we do know is that Swedish House Mafia announced they will be one of the three headlining performers this year, and it looks like Billie Eilish might be the second confirmed headliner.

According to a report from TMZ, Eilish is signed on to perform at the festival in support of her 2021 album Happier Than Ever. If TMZ’s sources are correct, it would mark Eilish’s second time performing the festival following her 40-minute set in 2019.

News of Eilish’s potential headlining spot arrives following reports that Travis Scott was dropped from the 2022 lineup. Coachella’s canceled 2020 event was slated to have Frank Ocean, Rage Against The Machine, and Scott as headliners. Ocean has already confirmed he’ll play the festival in 2023 and RATM reportedly backed out of this year’s event, meaning Scott was presumably left as a headliner this year. But a recent report might prove otherwise. News outlet KESQ claimed Coachella organizer Goldenvoice dropped Scott from the bill following the Astroworld tragedy, which left several concertgoers dead and thousands of lawsuits filed against the rapper.

A Coachella Tribe Is Free To Sell Tickets To Their NYE Event Despite Goldenvoice’s Efforts To Stop Them

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When one of the biggest music festivals in the world is named after the region where it goes down, there’s bound to be some confusion, and maybe even legal action. This has been the case this past month as Goldenvoice, which operates the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (that we all commonly know as simply “Coachella,”) filed multiple restraining orders against Live Nation and the Day One ’22 NYE concert/fest (fka “Coachella Day One 22”) that they are producing alongside the Coachella Valley-based Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians.

Goldenvoice’s first effort against Live Nation was successful, thus leading to the name change of the event which now does not include the word “Coachella.” But Rolling Stone reports that on Monday, December 27th, a judge denied a second effort from Goldenvoice (which is owned by AEG) that would have denied Live Nation the ability to sell tickets to the event no matter what the name. Day One 22′ will go down on New Year’s Eve at the Coachella Crossroads venue, which is a couple of miles away from the Empire Polo Field where the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is held. The Day One 22′ lineup features Lil Wayne, E-40, DJ Diesel (Shaq), and Getter.

As Rolling Stone further reports, Judge R. Gary Klausner rejected Goldenvoice’s latest restraining order because the naming of the event came from the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, who are entitled to sovereign immunity from this type of legal action. The tribe isn’t named in the restraining order and this has allowed them to maintain their promotional material with the current name, and continue to sell tickets leading up to the event. The Chairman of the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, Darrel Mike, issued a statement on the latest advancement:

“Today’s response from Judge Klausner is a win for the Tribe, the community and our ticketing partners at Live Nation. As a community and nation who reside in Coachella, California — we are equally thrilled that our outdoor venue, Coachella Crossroads will be able to continue operation under its given name. The strongarming of Goldenvoice and its parent company AEG to take reign over a name of a region and businesses who choose to identify with it is disrespectful to small and large business operations, those under their employ and the indigenous people who live within the valley.”

It’s wild to consider how Goldenvoice has essentially proven a justifiable claim on the rights to using the word “Coachella,” based on the ubiquity of their festival. It feels like a slippery slope for other festivals that rise to such notable prominence in small regions that could stake a claim to the use of the name of said region. This is definitely a win for the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, but we should not breeze past the fact that in the end, this boils down to a Goldenvoice vs. Live Nation legal tiff.

Goldenvoice Earns A Restraining Order Against Live Nation After Their Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

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Earlier this month, Goldenvoice filed a lawsuit against Live Nation over an event the company is attempting to host which bears a title similar to another well-known showcase. Live Nation was set to hold the Coachella Day One 22 festival in California on New Year’s Eve, but thanks to a new ruling from a judge, some changes will have to be made. According to Rolling Stone, Judge R. Gary Klausner awarded Goldenvoice with a restraining order against Live Nation over the event, which features a name similar to the former’s Coachella festival, which is set to go down in April 2022.

Judge Klausner ruled that Goldenvoice is “likely to succeed” with its copyright infringement argument against Live Nation. While the ruling will require Live Nation to make some changes, it does not stop them from hosting the festival as planned. With the restraining order, Judge Klausner called Live Nation’s argument “simply unpersuasive,” adding it “does not rebut the presumption of irreparable harm.”

The ruling comes after Goldenvoice filed two separate cease-and-desist letters to Live Nation in October and November for promoting and selling tickets for Coachella Day One 22. The original lawsuit was filed against Live Nation instead of the festival’s organizers, Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, because the indigenous tribe that operates the venue Coachella Crossroads — where Coachella Day One 22 was set to be held — is “entitled to sovereign immunity and therefore not subject to suit.”

Twenty-Nine Palms on the other hand previously tried to file a copyright for “Coachella Crossroads” but were denied over confusion with the Coachella festival. After a second application, however, they were approved after saying they would only host community and sports events. Despite this, they’ve promoted music-related events at the venue including a Toby Keith concert that took place in May.

Goldenvoice Sues Live Nation For Copyright Infringement Over A New Festival Planned For New Year’s Eve

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Many festivals plotted a return in either 2021 or 2022 after the pandemic effectively shut down large-scale events, but one festival in particular is facing some legal issues. No, it’s not because of their COVID policy. Rather, it’s because of their name. The upcoming event Coachella Day One 22 is slated to kick off in California on New Year’s Eve, but Live Nation is now being sued by the massive festival promotion company Goldenvoice. The reason? Well, the name “Coachella” has already been copyrighted.

As reported by Billboard and NME, Goldenvoice filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement against Live Nation earlier this week. Not only does the upcoming event use the name “Coachella,” but it is also set to take place just miles away from the official Coachella festival site in Indio, California. Live Nation is not acting as the festival organizer, but the actual Coachella Day One 22 organizers are a group of Native American tribe members who are immune from this type of legal action.

Goldenvoice’s lawsuit states that they sent two cease-and-desist letters to Live Nation after the company began selling and promoting the event’s tickets. The lawsuit asks the court to put a temporary order in place that would make it illegal for Live Nation to continue to advertise, promote, market, franchise, or sell any good or service in connection with the Coachella name.

Travis Scott Was Reportedly Dropped From Coachella’s 2022 Lineup

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It looks like Travis Scott’s performance woes will continue into 2022 thanks to a new report. According to KESQ, Scott was reportedly dropped from Coachella’s 2022 lineup. The publication credits Goldenvoice, the promotion company behind Coachella, with making the move, but they also note that an attempt to get a comment from them was unsuccessful. KESQ also reports that the city of Indio, where the festival is held, and the Community Services Manager Jim Curtis also confirmed the news about Scott’s removal. Brooke Beare, the city’s director of communications and marketing, told the Desert Sun that “any confirmation about the festival lineup would come from Goldenvoice.”

The report comes after Travis sat down for his first interview since the Astroworld tragedy last month. He spoke to radio show personality Charlamagne Tha God about the incident and how it’s weighed on him in the weeks since. “It gets so hard because, you know, I always feel connected with my fans,” he said during the interview. “I went through something and I feel like fans went through something and people’s parents went through something, and it really hurts. It hurts the community, it hurts the city.” He added, “There’s been a lot of thoughts, a lot of feelings, a lot of grieving, and just trying to wrap my head around it.”

In more recent news, Anheuser-Busch discontinued Scott’s Cacti hard seltzer line following the Astrowrold tragedy.

Coachella Reverses Its Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy For Its Upcoming 2022 Festival

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In an unexpected move by one of the entertainment industry’s biggest music festivals, Coachella has reversed its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for its upcoming April 2022 festival dates. The move comes just two months after Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which owns Coachella’s promoter Goldenvoice and is the second-largest concert promotion company in the US behind Live Nation, ruled that vaccinations are required at all their US venues starting in October. Along with Coachella, the August policy also affected showcases like Stagecoach, Lovers & Friends, and Day N Vegas. However, with six months left until Coachella 2022 commences, its organizers look to head in a different direction.

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“After seeing first-hand the low transmission data and successful implementation of safety protocols at our other festivals this past month,” Coachella wrote in a post to their Instagram page. “We feel confident we can update our health policy to allow for: Negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of the event OR Proof of full vaccination.”

Variety reached out to Goldenvoice with questions about the change in policy, but they did not immediately receive a response.

At the end of 2019, Coachella announced that Rage Against The Machine, Frank Ocean, and Travis Scott would headline the festival, which was originally intended to be held in 2020 before the pandemic forced its postponement. Coachella’s co-founder later announced that Frank would miss the 2022 showcase and instead headline in 2023. As for the full lineup for Coachella 2022, it will not be revealed until some point next year.

Concert Promoter AEG Will Require Proof Of COVID-19 Vaccination At All Its US Venues

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Would-be concertgoers had better get their shots, as Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the second-largest concert promotion company in the US behind Live Nation, will be requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination at all of its US venues beginning in October. AEG notably operates some of the biggest venues in the States, including Staples Center, Brooklyn Steel, and Webster Hall, and subsidiaries like GoldenVoice operate festivals including Coachella, Stagecoach, and upcoming fests like Lovers & Friends and Day N Vegas.

Up until now, and until the policy goes into effect, AEG has been allowing entry with either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours of the event date. However, with new infections rising and the emergence of new variants of the novel coronavirus, including the Delta variant, AEG’s leadership wants to protect attendees — and the company’s bottom line — to ensure future events don’t get canceled or postponed as in 2020 when the initial COVID outbreak essentially shuttered the entertainment industry for months.

As AEG COO Jay Marciano explained in a statement:

“We have come to the conclusion that, as a market leader, it was up to us to take a real stand on vaccination status. Just a few weeks ago, we were optimistic about where our business, and country, were heading. The Delta variant, combined with vaccine hesitancy, is pushing us in the wrong direction again. We realize that some people might look at this as a dramatic step, but it’s the right one. We also are aware that there might be some initial pushback, but I’m confident and hopeful that, at the end of the day, we will be on the right side of history and doing what’s best for artists, fans, and live event workers. Our hope is that our pro-active stance encourages people to do the right thing and get vaccinated. We’ve already had to deliver bad news about JazzFest this week; I think everyone can agree that we don’t want concerts to go away again, and this is the best way to keep that from happening.”

In contrast, Live Nation has let artists set the tone, determining vaccination requirements for their own shows. With this move, it’s possible AEG will put pressure on its industry peers to take further steps to protect the public and prevent another potentially disastrous industry-wide shutdown.