The eagerly-awaited official Coachella 2018 lineup was released by music promotor powerhouse Goldenvoice late Tuesday afternoon. The now-iconic California desert skyline poster confirmed rumors reported by Consequence of Sound in December of a hip-hop heavy lineup with headliners the Weeknd, Beyoncé and Eminem.
Though neither headliner is a stranger to the two weekend mega-music festival in Indio, this marks each artist’s first time as an official Coachella headliner. Beyoncé was set to headline in 2017, but rescheduled to headline in 2018 due to her being pregnant with twins. Eminem appeared on the main stage in 2012 as a surprise guest of Dr. Dre (a performance promptly upstaged by Dre’s other surprise guest, Tupac 2.0). The Weeknd has performed a total of three times at Coachella (twice on the bill and once last year as a guest).
Supporting acts like Tyler, the Creator, Cardi B and Post Malone make this year’s lineup noticeably more rap and hip hop-centric and mark a clear divergence from the indie artist and rock band reunion headliner legacy the festival has built on the last 19 years (while making EDM artist detour a few times in recent years). Still, a few token Coachella veterans appear on the bill: Fleet Foxes, Portugal. the Man, HAIM, and alt-J are all returning in 2018.
The festival is continuing their three-day weekend, times two format with the exact same lineup performing back to back weekends in April. Weekend One runs April 13-15 while Weekend Two does it all over again, running April 20 through 22. It’s worth mentioning this isn’t the first time 4/20 has fallen on Coachella weekend, but it is the first time the hazy holiday has fallen on a Coachella weekend since weed was decriminalized in California January 1. Just sayin’.
Peep the full lineup below.
Tickets to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival go on sale Friday at noon Coachella time (PST) via coachella.com. Get ’em while they got ’em: with Eminem hot off a new album and a hungry Beyhive who’ve been waiting to see Queen Bey in the desert for over a year, tickets are sure to sell out.
When not running the OCWeekly.com and OC Weekly’s social media sites, Taylor “Hellcat” Hamby can be found partying like it’s 1899.