More Spanish-language artists were featured last year at Coachella compared to this year. In 2022, over 20 Latin acts were on the lineup — the most ever featured at the festival — while this year’s number just cracked double digit. But those that were featured at the 2023 fest — including headliner Bad Bunny, Becky G, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Conexión Divina and DannyLux — performed enthralling, history-making sets during weekend one of the festival, and are set to do it all over again next weekend (April 21-23) in Indio, Calif.
Just days after the RIAA revealed that Latin music revenues in the United States had hit an all-time high last year, exceeding the $1 billion mark, global superstar Bad Bunny, who has massively contributed to the continuous growth of the genre, made history at Coachella on Friday (Apr. 14), becoming the first Latin act to close out the festival’s main stage. “Latinos have been rompiéndola (killing it) for some time now,” the Puerto Rican hitmaker said during his nearly two-hour show. “It’s the first time a Benito closes the festival. It may be the first time, but perhaps not the last time.”
That same day, just hours before Bad Bunny made history, Becky G rocked the main stage and paid tribute to her Mexican roots, spotlighting regional Mexican Music and its new generations of artists, which included special guests Marca MP, Jesús Ortiz Paz of Fuerza Regida and Peso Pluma.
Billboard tried to catch as many performances by Latin or Spanish-language artists as possible throughout the weekend. Here are some memorable moments from a few of those sets.
DannyLux
“My family and I are still processing what happened this weekend,” DannyLux tells Billboard after making his Coachella debut on Friday (April 14). His show at the desert festival was a homecoming for the Mexican-American sierreño act, who grew up in the Coachella Valley area. In fact, the entire town, and his family in particular, showed up and expressed their support for the 19-year-old singer-songwriter. For DannyLux’s father, who was a sanitation worker and picked up the trash after the festival year after year, going to the festival this year was special. A billboard in the valley that read a special message from his father to Danny went viral. “My last time at Coachella I was picking up the trash. Now I’m back to see my son perform this Friday. Te amo DannyLux, Tu Papá.”
“Me and my parents pray right before going up, and we just gave thanks for everything,” Danny says. During his set at the Sonora tent, which was fully packed up with people squeezing in to get in and see him play, Danny performed songs like “Jugaste y Sufrí,” “Junto a Ti,” “Mi Otra Mitad” and he covered Feid’s “Ferxxo 100.”
“It was crazy seeing all those people because when you’re behind the stage before the show, you can’t really see how many people are out there,” Danny says. “When I saw all those people, it was a beautiful moment.”
A native Californian, Becky G stunned with her star-studded, unforgettable show that was packed with hits, surprise guests and Latin pride. “What’s up Coachella?” she asked a sea of festival-goers, who had stationed themselves at the main stage for her 45-minute set after immediately being hooked with her reggaeton banger “Mayores.” “You’re looking mighty beautiful from up here,” she briefly said after performing her first song. “I’m so happy to be here with you guys today.”
Known for being a true team player and someone who wants to empower fellow artists, Becky G came to Coachella with some of her friends. “I couldn’t come to Coachella and not share the stage. Who else did we invite to the carne asada (cookout)?” she asked her DJ. She then went on to explain how she has been working on her first Mexican music album and how beautiful the process has been. To honor her Mexican roots at Coachella, she brought out regional Mexican heavy-hitters Marca MP, Fuerza Regida’s Jesús Ortiz Paz and Peso Pluma. Natti Natasha also made her way to the desert to sing “Sin Pijama” with Becky.
Bad Bunny
A lot went down during Bad Bunny’s nearly two-hour headlining set — even a mid-show marriage proposal in the crowd — where he made history as the first Spanish-language artist to close out the main stage. The set kicked off a with a pre-recorded video of the Puerto Rican hitmaker saying how grateful he felt to be the first Benito to ever headline the fest. “It’s incredible to see the list of all the other artists that have performed on this stage. So many of them, but no one like me,” he said.
He then opened with back-to-back Un Verano Sin Ti hits, “Titi Me Preguntó” and “Moscow Mule.” Supported by eye-popping visuals and his troupe of dancers, it seemed like Bad Bunny could keep performing forever, continuously asking fans, “Le seguimos? (Do we keep going?)”
As for special guests, Bunny had a few surprises in store. He brought out OG reggaetoneros Jowell & Randy and Ñengo Flow for “Safaera” and frequent collaborator Jhayco for “Dákiti.” But perhaps the most unexpected guest was Post Malone, who, with guitar in hand, sat next to Bunny to play “La Canción” and “Yonaguni” from a stage in the middle of the crowd. But what could have been en epic moment was unfortunately plagued by audio issues, and fans never even got to hear Post play. “Something happened to a cabrón cable,” Bunny said as an apology to his fans and, of course, Post. But Bunny was quick to move on from the technical difficulties and just kept going and going, saving “Callaíta,” “Me Porto Bonito” and “Después de la Playa” until the very end to close with a bang as fireworks fittingly lit up the sky.
Rosalía
Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/GI for Coachella
Rosalía is on a winning streak, and her performance at Coachella was no exception. Perhaps one of the best performances overall during the festival’s first weekend, the Spanish star’s set was hypnotizing, emotional and a literal piece of art. “Buenas noches, Coachella? I feel very happy to see you all here today,” said Rosalía, who was accompanied by a troupe of fierce dancers. “You fill my heart with your presence. I come from Barcelona, that’s why this stage is so special. It’s because of you that I’m here.”
Rosalía brought her Motomami Tour concept to the desert, built upon a minimalistic white canvas with multiple cameras live feeding content from multiple angles. The tracklist spanned her albums El Mal Querer and Motomami, including hits like “Saoko,” “Bizcochito,” and “La Fama.” Then, she brought out a special guest. Her fiancé Rauw Alejandro joined her on stage to perform “Beso” and “Vampiros” off their recently-released joint EP. “How many of you have already listened to RR,” the Spanish star asked the crowd. “Four years ago, I came to Coachella, and I came alone. Not this time around.” A few seconds later, the Puerto Rican hitmaker joined his lover onstage where they sang, kissed and twerked.
Eladio Carrión
Bad Bunny wasn’t the only one repping for Puerto Rico at Coachella. Rapper and singer Eladio Carrión also performed in front of a packed room on Saturday at the Gobi tent, making his debut at the desert. “It’s my first time at Coachella,” the hitmaker told those that had trekked to see him performed, “so it’s a historic day for me.”
He then powered through hard-hitting songs like “Flores En Anónimo,” “Sin Frenos,” “Al Capone” and of course the new fan favorite “Coco Chanel,” off his new set 3MEN2 KBRN. At one point, fans thought Bad Bunny could show up to join Eladio for their new collab but he did not. Either way, Eladio shined at Coachella, and is a must-see if you’re heading out for the second week of the festival.
Conexión Divina
Image Credit: Edgar Gomez
Regional Mexican trio Conexión Divina made their Coachella debut on Sunday (Apr. 16), and the all-women sierreño ensemble caught up with Billboard post-performance to talk about a moment that they thought would come much later during in their careers.
“There aren’t a lot of artists that get to say that performed at Coachella less than a year after launching their project,” Liz tells Billboard. The group — who released their debut album, Tres Mundos, on Friday (Apr. 14) — took time before stepping onstage at the Sonora stage to talk about what this meant to each of them, and how they wouldn’t get their hopes up if “no one showed up.” “We were trying to be relaxed,” says Ashlee. “We said that this was just another session in our room and to not even think about how many people showed up. We didn’t want to have expectations.” Adds third member Sandra, “Everyone gets here till later at night and we thought, 1 p.m., there’s going to be no one there.” Safe to say, they packed the room and serenaded fans with music from the recently released set.
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
It wouldn’t be Coachella without a proper Latin rock moment, and who better to deliver that than the iconic Argentine band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs? Even after a last-minute change on their set — they were moved up on the schedule and to a different stage — a significant crowd gathered to show the band support and rock out to songs like “Matador,” “Mal Bicho” “El León,” “Vacos Vacíos” and “Satanico.”
After their allotted 45 minutes on stage, the band said their goodbyes, but the fans weren’t ready to let them go just yet. After wrapping with “Satánico,” fans began chanting “otra, otra” asking them to sing another song. “We’re asking if it’s possible to sing another song,” frontman Vicentico told the crowd. And so they did: they performed one last song to please the fans that made it to the festival earlier to catch them, only fair after the last-minute shift.
Kali Uchis
Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/GI for Coachella
Kali Uchis delivered an epic performance on Sunday that featured back-to-back surprise guests. The Colombian-American artist started off strong performing her bilingual hit “Telepatía,” which earned the singer-songwriter her first leader on Billboard‘s Hot Latin Songs chart in 2021. Wearing a two-piece denim piece (bustier and shirt) with matching boots, Kali introduced her first guest, none other than Tyler, the Creator, to sing their duet “See You Again.” She then brought out Omar Apollo to perform “Worth the Wait.” For her last guest, Uchis invited rapper (and her significant other) Don Toliver for “Fantasy.”
“Are you guys hot?” she asked the crowd after Toliver left the stage. Things were only about to get hotter when she performed OG reggaeton anthems “Rica y Apretadita” by El General and Don Omar’s “Salvaje.” Recently, Uchis dropped her new album, Red Moonin Venus, which earned her her first top 10 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. During her set, she teased that she’s about to drop a Latin album next.
