Everyone had one eye on the stage and one eye on Taylor and Travis.
Coachella was full of surprises this year. On April 12-14, the festival kicked off its first weekend of performances — and despite this year’s alarmingly low ticket sales, fans flocked to the in-person shows (or the livestreams) to see their favorite artists. Per usual, the artists delivered their own version of excitement: Tyler, the Creator brought the action, Grimes came — unfortunately glitched — and went, Victoria Monét reminded fans of her pop-R&B vigor, and the list goes on. But the real gag was all of the surprise celebrity sightings.
From the lovebirds (hi, the Biebers and Tayvis) soaking in all the musical fun to guests such as Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish, here are all of the most surprising celebrity appearances from Coachella 2024.
Reneé Rapp invited an iconic performer to her Coachella set: Kesha. On April 14, both singers performed “TiK ToK,” where Kesha reworked her infamous opening line to, “Wake up in the morning like ‘F*ck P. Diddy.’”
A Tayvis cameo at Coachella? Now that’s a surprise. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, who’ve been inseparable these last few months, were spotted at the festival over the weekend. The duo had plenty of swoon-worthy moments, such as them hugging while watching Ice Spice’s set and Kelce lifting Swift up in the air during DJ Dom Dolla’s performance.
Tyler, the Creator’s headlining set on April 13 had it all: a chaotic entrance reminiscent of Loiter Squad, some off-kilter jokes, a necessary lunch break, nods to all of his musical eras — including the stylistic angst of his Odd Future days, and several surprise guest appearances.
To start off the surprise guest list, Tyler performed his 2019 Igor track “Running Out Of Time” with Childish Gambino. You know, no big deal. The rapper also invited the Charlie Wilson to perform “Earfquake,” which features his vocals on the original hit. We love to see legends getting their rightful dues.
Welcome to The Simple Life (Coachella’s Version). In December 2023, Paris Hilton teased she and Nicole Richie had “some surprises in store” to celebrate their show’s 20-year anniversary. Now, it seems they’re rolling out those plans this year — and it’s a random surprise, indeed.
On April 13, Vampire Weekend invited Hilton on stage to play cornhole, a game that requires players to successfully throw a bean bag into a board with a hole in it. “I haven’t played this game since The Simple Life,” Hilton said, before missing the target on the raised board. Well, at least she gave the crowd a heads up.
Lana Del Rey’s whispery cadence made Coachella stand at attention. That musical command was needed, as she brought out several surprise guests the crowd wouldn’t have wanted to miss — including Billie Eilish. Sat before a dimly-lit backdrop, the duo sung their respective hit ballads: Rey’s “Video Games” and Eilish’s “Ocean Eyes” on April 12.
Let’s return back to Tyler, the Creator’s set. After his quick performance with Childish Gambino, the Cherry Bomb rapper pulled another surprise guest of out his hat: A$AP Rocky. The two — aka one of rap’s greatest friendship duos — performed “Potato Salad” before raging into “Who Dat Boy.” Earlier that evening, Rocky was also spotted enjoying the festival with Rihanna.
It’s Nelly Furtado’s promiscuous world, and we’re happy to live in it. The singer — whose career is in the middle of a renaissance — surprisingly appeared during DJ Dom Dolla’s set on April 13 to perform their single, “Eat Your Man.” (Yes, the Maneater-sphere is growing.) Though Furtado had one slip-up on stage, she championed through with her mic still on.
On April 14, Tems invited one of the biggest pop stars to her set: Justin Bieber. While performing Wizkid’s “Essence,” Bieber suddenly rose from the side of the stage to sing his verse. (For those that don’t know, he appeared on the track’s 2021 remix.) His appearance was the definition of surprising, as it’s been a few months since Bieber has performed live. Clearly, he hasn’t lost his spark.
That’s not all, though. The Journals star also attended the festival with wife Hailey Bieber, and the couple was seen enjoying a few shows together.
Olivia Rodrigo’s in her lead rocker-chick era. She fully leaned into that angst on 2023’s Guts, which is the lavender eclipse of the album’s current tour. With that said, it only made sense for her to grace the stage with an early-aughts alt-pop legend: Gwen Stefani.
On April 13, Stefani performed with No Doubt, marking the first time the band has performed together in nearly a decade. While singing their 2000 track “Bathwater,” Rodrigo — who wore a “I <3 ND tank top” — came out to trade a few verses with Stefani.
Will Smith, you’ll always be a star. On April 14, the actor surprise performed “Men in Black” — the theme song from his iconic 1997 film of the same name — during J. Balvin’s set. True to the track, Smith wore his all-black MIB suit (yes, Ray-Bans included) while hitting a few moves in front of a giant alien head.
