Coachella Was Filled With Surprise Guest Performances. Here’s Everyone Who Showed Up

Coachella kicked off over the weekend in Indio, Calif., with some of the biggest acts in music hitting the stage in the desert. Despite a lackluster lead up to the festival—as evidenced by lower ticket sales, taking a whole month for the tickets to sell out, and a 14-17% dip in sales this year, Billboard reported—this year’s sets have so far drummed up lots of enthusiasm ahead of Coachella Weekend Two. The headliners and performers have brought out a range of surprise guests, building anticipation over who might come out next weekend.

Lana Del Rey took the stage on Friday and brought Billie Eilish out to perform two songs together. Tyler, the Creator invited four people to join him on stage on Saturday, including Childish Gambino and A$AP Rocky. Doja Cat closed out the weekend on Sunday, where she, too, had A$AP Rocky and 21 Savage come out. But the headliners weren’t the only ones who brought out guests. Reneé Rapp, No Doubt, and J Balvin all brought out guests to surprise their fans.

Here are all the surprise guests who showed up at Coachella this year.

Billie Eilish, Jack Antonoff, and Jon Batiste join Lana Del Rey

The sultry balladeer arrived to her set standing on the back of a motorcycle. Jack Antonoff played piano while a hologram of Del Rey performed “Hope is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me to Have—But I Have It.” Jon Batiste joined her on stage to play the piano for her while she sang “Candy Necklace.”

Billie Eilish, who has previously called Del Rey an inspiration and idol, made a surprise appearance at the end of the set. In a full circle moment, after the pair talked to each other for Interview Magazine last year, Eilish and Del Rey performed duets of each other’s debut singles, Del Rey’s “Video Games” and Eilish’s “Ocean Eyes.” The two singers showered each other with praise. Del Rey called Eilish “the voice of our generation, the voice of your generation” and Eilish said Del Rey is “the reason for half of you b-tches existence, including mine.”

Tyler, the Creator brings out Childish Gambino, A$AP Rocky, Charlie Wilson, and Kali Uchis

Tyler, the Creator’s electrifying set began with him getting catapulted out of a fake RV and bouncing around a lush Grand Canyon-esque backdrop. He performed songs from all his albums, including his breakout hits “Yonkers” and “She” featuring Frank Ocean (sans Ocean, whose set last year divided fans. Tyler first surprised the audience with an appearance from Childish Gambino, who sang “Running Out of Time” with him. When Gambino walked off the stage, Tyler said he used to “hate” him. Then, he brought out A$AP Rocky to perform two songs, their 2018 duet, “Potato Salad” and the Flower Boy cut, “Who Dat Boy.”

Charlie Wilson, the former lead vocalist for the Gap Band, joined Tyler onstage at a piano to sing a stripped-down version of “Earfquake,” which features background vocals from Wilson. The last guest to take the stage with Tyler was Kali Uchis, with whom he’s collaborated on multiple songs. She came out to do a bit of their song, “See You Again,” toward the end of his set. Tyler never lets the opportunity for theatrics go to waste—he performed“New Magic Wand” while strapped to a harness and defied gravity, scaling rocks and trying not to get “blown away” by the monstrous winds.

Doja Cat invited A$AP Rocky, Teezo Touchdown, and 21 Savage to her set

Doja Cat’s set—choreographed by Parris Goebel, the mastermind behind two Super Bowl performances, Rihanna in the 2023 set and Jennifer Lopez and Shakira in 2020—did not disappoint. Doja’s exhilarating performance is amongst the best-reviewed of Weekend One, thanks in part to her not being afraid to get a bit weird. She heavily leaned on her latest album, Scarlet, for the setlist—performing songs like “Demons,” “Gun,” and “Attention,”—as well as fan favorites like “Need To Know,” “Tia Tamaera,” and “Agora Hills.” There were also exciting surprise guests, including 21 Savage, who performed “n.h.i.e” with her; A$AP Rocky joined her to do “URRRGE!!!!!!!!!” and rising star Teezo Touchdown made an appearance to do “MASC.”

No Doubt duetted with Olivia Rodrigo

No Doubt reunited for the first time in close to a decade. The band ran through their expansive list of hits, including “Don’t Speak,” “I’m Just a Girl,” and “Sunday Morning.” To help them sing their turn-of-the-millennium hit, “Bathwater,” Gwen Stefani and the band brought out Gen Z’s favorite rocker chick, Olivia Rodrigo. The 21-year-old singer is currently on her GUTS world tour and made a stop in the desert to perform with the recently reunited band. She uploaded a post to Instagram with a caption saying, “I remember hearing ‘bathwater’ for the first time when I had just started writing songs. It totally turned my world on its head and inspires me to this day.”

Peso Pluma, Becky G, Santa Fe Klan, Junior H, and Arcángel

Mexican artist Peso Pluma took the stage to hundreds of adoring fans, excited to see him represent his country. He performed his hits and was joined by other popular Latin music acts including Becky G, who brought him out during her set in 2023. He returned the favor to “the first woman who helped me in this industry,” he said during the set, and they performed their collaboration, “Chanel.” The set continued, and he invited Junior H to perform their corrido tumbado collaboration, “El Azul.” Other guests included Santa Fe Klan, who did “No Son Klle,” with him and the last surprise guest was Arcángel, the Puerto Rican reggaeton artist, who performed “Peso Completo” with him on stage.

Shakira joined Bizarrap for two songs

Argentinian producer and DJ Bizarrap quickly rose to fame for his insanely viral video series on YouTube, where he’d invite popular Latin artists to film music videos for a new song they’d create together. In January last year, Shakira joined the series and caused a ruckus, addressing her ex-husband’s alleged infidelity through a scathing track that was widely discussed. As a surprise, Shakira joined Bizarrap and performed their two songs, “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53” and their new track, “La Fuerte,” off Shakira’s new album. She also used the set as an opportunity to announce her “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour.”

Reneé Rapp brought out The Cast of The L Word, and Kesha

Reneé Rapp's star has only reached new heights since the 24-year-old singer released her debut album Snow Angel in August 2023, played a stunning set at Saturday Night Live, and led a sold-out tour. She made her Coachella debut in the most iconic way, with the cast of The L Word, introducing her, before she brought out Kesha to perform “TikTok.” In this new rendition, though, they changed the lyrics that reference Sean "Diddy" Combs from “Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy” to “Wake up in the morning, feeling like f-ck P. Diddy,” and the two put their middle fingers in the air. Multiple sexual assault lawsuits have been filed against Combs since November 2023.

Paris Hilton played cornhole with Vampire Weekend

Paris Hilton is known to enjoy a Coachella here and there but has more recently taken up performing as a DJ. However, she did not join to perform. Instead, she took the stage to play a game of cornhole with the band. “I haven’t played this game since The Simple Life, so…,” Hilton said to the crowd before hugging Ezra Koenig and leaving.

Kevin Abstract and Sky Ferreira do a cover of a country-pop classic

In a turn of events that truly no one was expecting, Kevin Abstract—former member of the boy band BROCKHAMPTON—brought out Sky Ferreira to open the set with him, and they performed a rendition of Lady A’s “Need You Now.” This was a surprise, given that the last project Ferreira released was her debut album Night Time, My Time, in 2013. She gave her fans two singles, one in 2019 and another in 2022, but she hasn’t been able to put out anymore because of her “f--ked up” situation with her record label.

YG Marley had a mini Fugees reunion during his set, bringing out his mom, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Busta Rhymes

During his set, rapper and singer YG Marley invited his mother, Ms. Lauryn Hill, on stage to perform with him and her former Fugees bandmate, Wyclef Jean. His mother started out with a performance of her song, “Ex-Factor,” from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, with Marley chiming in with some ad-libs here and there. She and Wyclef then did a few Fugees songs, including “Killing Me Softly,” “Ready or Not,” and “Fu-Gee-La.” There was also a section for a Bob Marley tribute where they performed “One Love” and “Exodus.” The surprise guests didn’t stop there as Marley brought out rapper Busta Rhymes to do “Put Your Hand Where My Eyes Could See” and his verse on “Look At Me Now” by Chris Brown.

WizKid and Justin Bieber joined Tems to perform their 2021 hit

Nigerian superstar Tems made her Coachella debut this year and delivered a stunning performance, showcasing her equally impressive vocals. Before her set, she teased a surprise in a post on X, saying she was excited to share it. She shocked her fans with appearances from WizKid and Justin Bieber, her collaborators on their 2020 song, “Essence.” Bieber’s been laying particularly low after his 2022 diagnosis with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, so it was a nice surprise to see him on stage.

Nelly Furtado took a spill

Nelly Furtado’s comeback has been in full swing as the singer gets back into releasing new music. In 2023, Dom Dolla and Furtado released a song called “Eat Your Man,” and she was brought out as a surprise guest. The crowd was excited to see her, but in the middle of her performance, she fell face forward—but she didn’t let that ruin her set. She stayed on track and performed the rest of the song without any hiccups. After she got off stage, she took to Instagram to poke fun at herself and posted a photo of her bloody finger with the caption, “Literally left it all on the stage… including my blood.”