The 2019 Coachella lineup is looking swell — although it's going to be hard to beat 2018 Coachella, which was re-dubbed Beychella.
Ariana Grande, darling of 2018 and the owner of the term "Thank U, Next," will be headlining this year alongside Childish Gambino and Tame Impala. Childish (Donald Glover) will headline the first weekend, with Tame Impala taking the second and Grande the third. In addition, Janelle Monáe and BLACKPINK, an all-female Kpop group, will be playing the first weekend with Solange and Billie Eilish playing the second. This news follows a TMZ report that claimed Kanye West cancelled his 2019 Coachella performance after negotiations fell through.
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Grande, who was recently nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album, will be the youngest solo female act ever to headline Coachella. She is 24. (While young performers like this group of 7th graders and Mason the yodeling kid are pretty common at Coachella, the youths don't headline.) Not to mention, BLACKPINK will be the festival's first all-female Kpop group. Power players Ella Mai ("Boo'd Up) and H.E.R., will also be playing at the festival.
Coachella, a beloved California institution, has recently gotten its head the game (much like Zac Efron in High School Musical), despite some controversy surrounding its owner Philip Anschutz. Last year, Beyoncé was the first Black woman to headline Coachella. This was after she pushed her 2017 headlining performance due to her pregnancy. Beyoncé's 2018 performance was streamed live on YouTube, where it broke streaming records. The performance was, per a YouTube spokesperson who spoke to Refinery29 at the time, the most-viewed Coachella performance ever.
humbled and excited as all hell @coachella ? thank u
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) January 3, 2019
Meanwhile, Idris Elba — People's Sexiest Man Alive in 2018 — will be DJing, proving his worth as a man of many talents. Now that's what I call cancelling the apocalypse!