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Alice Cooper says that making a new album with his original bandmates — the first in more than 51 years — was like riding a proverbial bike.
“Oh, very much so,” the veteran shock rocker tells Billboard by phone from his home in Phoenix, speaking about the upcoming The Revenge of Alice Cooper (out July 25 on earMUSIC). “It was very much like this was our next album after (1973’s) Muscle of Love, just like, ‘OK, this is the next album.’ Isn’t that funny after 50 years? All of a sudden it just falls into place.”
Producer Bob Ezrin, meanwhile, says that the band on The Revenge… was eerily similar to the group he worked with on platinum Cooper 70s albums such as Love It to Death, Killer, School’s Out and Billion Dollar Babies. “None of them has changed much as a person,” Ezrin notes. “Obviously everyone’s older and more mature and more settled, but when we all get together and I watch the interplay between them, it’s like they just walked out of high school and were hanging out in the local cafe. They just revert to type. They revert to who they were as kids when the first got together… and make music together like they did 50-some years ago.”
The 14-track album reunites Cooper with guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neil Smith. Guitarist Glen Buxton passed away in 1997 at the age of 49 — the album is dedicated “to our brother Glen Buxton” — and he’s represented on two songs. “What Happened to You” is built from the riff on an old demo tape Dunaway and Buxton made together and the limited-edition box set bonus track “Return of the Spiders 2025,” is an upgraded remix of a track from the group’s second album, 1970’s Easy Action.
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The set also features another bonus remix, of the “Titanic Overunderture” from the group’s 1969 debut, Pretties For You, and a remake of the Yardbirds’ “I Ain’t Done Wrong” from 1965 — a nod to a favorite band of Cooper and company that it covered during their early days as the Spiders on Phoenix.
Cooper will be premiering the first single, “Black Mamba,” on Tuesday (April 22) on the latest episode of his syndicated radio show, Alice’s Attic. Featuring Robby Krieger of the Doors, a friend since the band’s late 60s days in Los Angeles, it was, according to Cooper, “definitely an Alice Cooper, from-the-ground-up song” created during studios sessions for the album.
“It wasn’t even a song yet,” Dunaway recalls. “We’re in the studio and we start jamming on the riff and warming up together. The next thing you know we get this swampy feel and decide it’s gonna be about a Black Mamba snake, which is very deadly, and it fell into place. It was so new Alice had to stop us at one point and ask me if I remembered what the melody was. It was very spontaneous.”
For Ezrin — who also co-wrote songs, sang backup and played keyboards and percussion on the LP — “Black Mamba” in particular defined what The Revenge… was going to be. “When we started to play that it’s when I knew the spirit of the Alice Cooper group was back and that what we were making was very much an album that could’ve been in the 70s, when we were last together. It had the psychedelia, it had the artful drumming and bass playing, the great atmospheric guitars. It has Alice telling a really fabulous story, in character.”
Cooper adds that, “We didn’t know where it was gonna go. At the end we looked at each other and went, ‘Oh, that’s pretty good!’”
The Cooper crew has been working its way towards another full album for more than a decade.
Its split in 1974 — after seven albums over six years, and such iconic hits as “I’m Eighteen,” “School’s Out,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and more — was acrimonious but not insurmountable. “We didn’t’ divorce as much as we separated,” Cooper explains. “There was no anger, no bad blood — not for very long anyway.”
Dunaway adds that, “the breakup wasn’t what the band was about; the togetherness was. After all of these years we’ve buried a lot of hatchets.” Bruce and Smith performed at the opening of one of the Alice Coopers’town restaurants in Phoenix during 1988 and all four living members played for the band’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2011.
That led to song collaborations on several of Cooper’s subsequent albums — Welcome 2 My Nightmare in 2011, Paranormal in 2017 and 2021’s Detroit Stories, and on Oct. 6, 2015, the four played an eight-song set at Good Records in Dallas to celebrate Dunaway’s memoir Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs! My Adventures in the Alice Cooper Group; the show was subsequently released as the Live from the Astoturf album and DVD three years later.
And during 2017, Bruce, Dunaway and Smith performed as special guests on the U.K. dates of Cooper’s Spend the Night with Alice Cooper world tour.
“All of those things got everybody reacquainted — reacquainted is a weird term ’cause we’re so much like family, so it’s more like a family reunion,” Dunaway says. “Then Alice and Bob called and were talking about, ‘Oh yeah, we want to do an album,’ because there’s so many songs kicking around.”
Ezrin explains that, “We’ve worked together here and there over the years. The boys played together… and every time it’s been a joy and complete pleasure, and kind of like going home. So we finally decided, ‘Let’s just do a whole album, an Alice Cooper group album like we used to.”
Work on The Revenge… actually began in Phoenix a few years ago, when Cooper, Bruce, Dunaway and Smith gathered together to try out songs. Dunaway recalls that he and Smith each came in with around 30 songs, putting them on par with Bruce, who was the band’s primary music writer during the 70s.
“Dennis and Neil really blew my mind,” Bruce says. “They’ve come a long way as writers. I just can’t say enough about their songwriting. We all are songwriters now; it’s a real battle of the songwriters. I’m so proud of the band.”
Cooper maintains that he’s long felt, “if we’re gonna do an original Alice record, I want it to sound like the original Alice band. The original band has a darker sound, and a heavier sound. It’s a very different personality, and I even sing differently when I sing with those guys.
“On this (album) it was much more of a band, where each one of us has a certain say. In other words, it wasn’t like my albums. I’m not gonna have a final say on it; I had one-fourth of the say on it, and that’s the way we always did it,” he adds. “I think the best thing about this is normally Bob and I would go, ‘OK, wait a minute — that doesn’t necessarily fit. That shouldn’t go there.’ When we’re working with this band, we go, ‘No, let it go there,’ ’cause that’s what the original Alice Cooper Band did. We would see where it should go, and 70 percent of the song went where it should go, and the about 30 percent of the song went in another direction — but it all sounded like it fit.
“That was the difference. When we heard that, we kinda laugh and say, ‘Let’s go there.’ On my albums I wouldn’t go there, but on this album, we go there.”
Filling Buxton’s role on The Revenge… is Gyasi Hues, a Nashville player who was recommended to Ezrin by Mike Grimes, owner of Grimey’s New & Preloved Music in Nashville and checked out by Dunaway and Smith in a local club. “Neil and Dennis were slightly skeptical,” Ezrin says.
“Nobody wants to replace Glen, and they hold jealously onto his memory and their love for him. But very early on (Hues’) started playing some really cool stuff and the guys were looking around going, ‘That’s kinda great.’ So we have the Alice Cooper group, not with Glen Buxton but with somebody who honors Glen Buxton.” A number of other players, primarily Connecticut guitarist and instrument merchant Rick Tedesco, also appear on The Revenge…
Tracking sessions for The Revenge… began during August of 2022 in Nashville, with other recording done in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Hollywood and Glendale, Calif., and Cooper’s vocals recorded at Noble Street Studios in Toronto.
As word about The Revenge… filters out, Dunaway says the band is “ready to explode with excitement because we’ve kept it secret for so long.” There’s no word yet, however, on whether the four will regroup to play live to support it; Cooper already has a full slate of touring ahead this year, including a May and August dates in the U.S., summer shows in Europe and a co-headlining run with Judas Priest during September and October.
“We haven’t even gotten to that point yet,” Cooper says about putting the quartet back on stage. “I don’t really see it being a full-out tour; it would be very, very hard, I think, if you haven’t done it for a long time. But I could see it being a feature, like going into certain cities — Detroit, New York, L.A., London maybe, and doing a half-hour or 40 minutes in a club or something. We always leave those things open, and if it looks feasible then we do it.”
His bandmates are game. “If (Cooper) asks, I’ll be there,” says Bruce, who continues to write and plays in a local band in Arizona. “I’m an Alice Cooper trouper.” Dunaway, whose various musical endeavors include Blue Coupe with former members of Blue Oyster Cult, adds that, “It has always depended on Alice. If Alice gives us a call, we’re there. We’re ready.”
And while Dunaway considers The Revenge… to be “a full-circle moment” for the original Alice Cooper band, all concerned seem to feel like it’s not the last thing they’ll do together.
“Dennis was talking about a one-off album, and I’m like, ‘Who says it’s a one-off album,” says Cooper, who’s working on his next solo album with Ezrin. “I have no problem working with these guys all the time. I can be doing my albums, working with them. I’ve got the Hollywood Vampires. I’m in the Solid Rock band for all the kids at Solid Rock (his youth centers in Arizona). I’ve got to keep remember what band I’m in! But doing (the original band) again is great. I’ll always be up for that.”
The Revenge of Alice Cooper is currently available for pre-order. The full tracklist includes:
1. “Black Mamba”
2. “Wild Ones”
3. “Up All Night”
4. “Kill The Flies”
5. “One Night Stand”
6. “Blood On The Sun”
7. “Crap That Gets In The Way Of Your Dreams”
8. “Famous Face”
9. “Money Screams”
10. “What A Syd”
11. “Inter Galactic Vagabond Blues”
12. “What Happened To You”
13. “I Ain’t Done Wrong”
14. “See You On The Other Side”
15. “Return of the Spiders 2025” (bonus track)
16. “Titanic Overunderture” (bonus track)
The sun hadn’t even set on what was planned to be Bluesfest’s final day before the official confirmation was given that the event would live on.
The long-running festival has become an institution on the Australian festivals calendar across its 36-year history. Names such as Bob Dylan, BB King, Paul Simon, John Mayer, Mary J Blige, and Kendrick Lamar, plus homegrown stars Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil and Tash Sultana, have all performed over the years, with the dizzying lineups also offering chances for rising stars to receive a vital platform.
However, this year’s event – which ran from April 17-20 on Australia’s east coast – was initially set to be the final outing for the long-running festival.
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“To my Dear Bluesfest Family, and after more than 50 years in the music business, Bluesfest has been a labour of love, a celebration of music, community, and the resilient spirit of our fans,” festival director Peter Noble wrote in a statement last year.
“But after the 2025 festival, as much as it pains me to say this, it’s time to close this chapter,” he continued. “As I said earlier this year at Bluesfest 2024, next year’s festival will be happening and it definitely is, but it will be our last.”
However, in December, Noble had changed his tune, explaining that the decision to call time on the event was an attempt to regain the support of the New South Wales state government, and noted that organizers were already booking acts for their 2026 edition.
On Sunday, April 20, Bluesfest officially confirmed that the festival would live on, revealing that it would be taking place across the Easter long weekend of 2026, from April 2-5. Additionally, attendees were also given the chance to purchase “pre-early bird tickets,” with the offer expiring at the conclusion of the festival.
“Please support our festival and guarantee our future by the simple act of buying your ticket at the best possible price at the festival today,” organizers wrote on social media. Traditionally, standard early bird tickets for the next festival are put on sale shortly after the previous event, with organizers expected to do so in the near future.
The announcement of Bluesfest’s 2026 return also took place one day after Noble stood with Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Mandy Nolan as the Australian Greens party launched their Festivals Support Package on the grounds of the festival.
The Greens’ proposed package to revitalize Australian festivals includes $20 million AUD per year in direct festival grants, $2 million AUD for a comprehensive review of the failures relating to the insurance market that is affecting the live music sector, and a national festival strategy, alongside tax offsets for artists and venues.
“Our festivals are in crisis,” Hanson-Young said. “Over the past few years we’ve seen the cancellation after cancellation of loved and iconic festivals. It’s clear that the government needs to step in to help the industry.”
“With rising costs, insurance issues, and festival cancellations across the country, this plan brings hope and much-needed support to keep Australia’s festival scene alive and thriving,” Bluesfest organizers added.
The 2025 edition of Bluesfest featured Crowded House, Chaka Khan and Toto in the headline positions, with a wide variety of Australian and international acts completing the vast bill. Artist details for the 2026 revival of Bluesfest are yet to be announced, though will ostensibly be revealed around August/September, as is traditional for the festival’s first lineup announcement
One week after they claimed Coachella censored the pro-Palestinian messaging during their debut at the event, Northern Irish hip-hop group Kneecap ended their second festival date with strong anti-Israel sentiments.
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The Belfast trio performed at the festival’s second weekend on Friday (April 18), closing their set by projecting strong messaging in support of Palestinians. “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” the projected messages read. “It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F–k Israel; free Palestine.”
Reportedly, Kneecap’s first weekend performance on April 11 was also set to feature the messages, though their sentiments did not appear. The absent messages were brought to the band’s attention after word that their chant celebrating the 2013 death of former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was not broadcast during the festival’s livestream.
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“Not the only thing that was cut – our messaging on the US-backed genocide in Gaza somehow never appeared on screens either,” Kneecap wrote on socials in response to the incident. “Back next Friday Coachella and it’ll be sorted.” According to Variety, the Sonora tent’s performances were not broadcast for the second weekend of the festival.
Alongside the promised return of the messages, the trio also increased their sentiments for the second weekend. While their pro-Palestine and anti-Israel chants remained, the group also used their latest performance to tell the crowd “the Irish are not so longer persecuted under the Brits, but we were never bombed under the f–king skies with nowhere to go.”
This year’s edition of Coachella has not been lacking in terms of artists protesting Israel and sharing their support of Palestine. While Green Day have altered lyrics to reflect the plight of Palestinian children, names such as Bob Vylan and Blonde Redhead have also displayed Palestinian flags during their sets. In the case of the latter, the onstage event was soundtracked by audio of Mahmoud Khalil – the detained Columbia University graduate student currently being held in an immigration detention center following his role in on-campus protests.
Kneecap’s messaging has generated the most notoriety, however, with many artists and fans calling on Coachella organizers Goldenvoice and parent company AEG Presents to comment on the situation. The Hollywood Reporter notes that insiders have claimed Goldenvoice CEO Paul Tollett was “blindsided” by Kneecap’s actions.
In a post shared on social media, HYBE America CEO and former talent manager Scooter Braun – who previously staged exhibits in Los Angeles and Israel about the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel – defended Tollett.
“This is my friend Paul Tollett, the founder of @coachella,” Braun wrote. “He is someone who lives and breathes the festival community. He fights for artists and he fights for all people. When I invited him to the opening of the Nova music exhibit in Los Angeles, he was the first person from the industry to accept.
“He came on his own time and spent five hours in the exhibit and then met with survivors of nova and invited them to the festival this year as his guest. He cried with them, he laughed with them, and he continues to advocate for them.
“Let’s not lose sight of who this man is, and let us stand with him in this moment when a group, without his knowing, took advantage of his festival and created hate in a place that’s filled with love,” Braun added.
Snoop Dogg‘s mind-bending new “Last Dance With Mary Jane” music video arrived just in time for 4/20. Featuring guest Jelly Roll and a depiction of the late Tom Petty — the track samples a Petty and the Heartbreakers classic, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” — the visual also includes Dr. Dre (who produced the song), the […]
Happy Easter from Billy Ray Cyrus and Elizabeth Hurley. The pair sent a joint holiday greeting out to the world on Sunday (April 20) via Hurley’s Instagram account, where the actress shared a personal photo of an intimate moment with Cyrus. Though neither have publicly commented on their relationship, in the snapshot Hurley leans in […]
Lana Del Rey‘s “Bluebird” tops this week’s new music poll.
In a poll published Friday (April 18) on Billboard, music fans chose the alt-pop icon’s gorgeous new ballad as their favorite new release of the past week.
“Bluebird” captured 62% of the vote, beating out new releases from artists like Morgan Wallen and Post Malone (“I Ain’t Coming Back”), Addison Rae (“Headphones On”), Davido (5ive), Isabel Larosa (Raven), and others.
The lullaby-like “Bluebird” is the second offering from Del Rey’s forthcoming country-leaning studio album, which has yet to be titled or given a release date. Set over soft finger-picked guitar and piano, she gently croons about hope and heartbreak. “Little bird, bluebird/ Fly away for both of us/ For you have wings and I’ve no means to fly,” she sings.
Del Rey recently shared the song’s backstory in a candid video filmed on her way to rehearsal.
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“I started humming this chorus to myself, with the words and the melody, a long time ago when I had been seeing someone for a very long time — and we hadn’t seen each other for a while, and he called,” she said in an Instagram clip. “And he asked me if I wanted to go for a walk. I was kind of excited, but I didn’t think it was a very good idea.”
She went on to describe the moment that inspired the track’s title. “All of a sudden a bird smacked in the double-pane window doors of my bedroom,” the singer recalled. “I was shocked, and I opened the little door and I saw this little, I think it was a little sparrow, little swallow, right there, and I just was so emotional — because you know when you just know that something is meant for you? Like sometimes I feel like nature has its own way of communicating with you, especially in extremely severe situations — not in a sacrificial way, just in a way just for you to know.”
“Bluebird” follows “Henry, Come On,” which placed second in last week’s fan-voted poll with 12%.
Del Rey is set to bring her country-inspired vision to the stage at this year’s Stagecoach in Indio, Calif., on April 25. The festival has teased her set as “a very special country set,” arriving the weekend after Coachella.
This week’s poll runner-up was Wallen and Malone’s collaboration “I Ain’t Coming Back,” which earned 12% of the vote. The Bible story track is one of 37 on Wallen’s upcoming album, I’m the Problem.
Check out the full results of this week’s poll below and visit Billboard’s Friday Music Guide for more must-hear releases.
Ken Carson lands his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the rapper’s latest project, More Chaos, enters atop the list dated April 26.
The set earned 59,500 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending April 18, according to Luminate. Of that sum, nearly 82% was driven by streaming activity. More Chaos is Carson’s first top 10 effort as well and follows two charted titles: A Great Chaos (No. 11 peak in 2023) and X (No. 115 in 2022).
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More Chaos, released via Opium/Interscope Records, replaces Opium label founder Playboi Carti atop the Billboard 200, as the latter’s MUSIC moves to No. 7 after three nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1.
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Carson is the third act in 2025 to land their first No. 1 this year, following Tate McRae (with So Close To What) and PARTYNEXTDOOR (with the Drake collaboration set $ome $exy $ongs 4 U). In all of 2024, there were five acts that got their first No. 1: Ty Dolla $ign (with the Ye collab Vultures 1), TWICE (With YOU-th), Sabrina Carpenter (Short n’ Sweet), Jelly Roll (Beautifully Broken) and Yeat (Lyfestyle).
With More Chaos earning 59,500 units in the latest tracking week, that marks the smallest weekly sum for a No. 1 album in nearly three years, since the May 2, 2022-dated chart, when Pusha T’s It’s Almost Dry opened at No. 1 with just under 55,000 units.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new April 26, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on April 22. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of More Chaos’ 59,500 first-week equivalent album units, SEA units comprise 48,500 (equaling 67.3 million on-demand official streams of the songs on the streaming editions of the album; it debuts at No. 3 on the Top Streaming Albums chart), album sales comprise 11,000 (it debuts at No. 4 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
More Chaos was available in its first week as a standard 18-song album (on color vinyl and a widely available CD and in three deluxe boxed sets containing a T-shirt and CD) and in two widely available expanded digital/streaming editions that added three and four songs, respectively.
The rest of the top 10 on the Billboard 200 is fairly low-key, as Carson is the lone debut in the region. The Nos. 2-10 titles are also all former No. 1s. (The top 10 was last comprised entirely of No. 1s on the Dec. 9, 2023-dated list.) Kendrick Lamar’s GNX rises 5-2 with nearly 55,000 equivalent album units earned (up 3%), while SZA’s SOS climbs 4-3 with 53,000 (down 2%). The pair kicked off their co-headlining Grand National Tour on April 19 at Minneapolis’ U.S. Bank Stadium.
Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet is up two spots to No. 4 (52,000 equivalent album units; up 6%), $ome $exy $ongs 4 U falls 3-5 (nearly 52,000; down 8% — as the set climbs 2-1 on Top Streaming Albums for a fourth nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1); Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time ascends 7-6 (46,000; up 4%); Playboi Carti’s MUSIC falls 1-7 (45,500; down 29%); Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos is steady at No. 8 (nearly 42,000; down 2%); Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine falls 2-9 (40,000; down 29%); and Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM rises 12-10 (39,500; up 11%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Green Day and Charli XCX are playfully beefing at Coachella 2025.
During the music festival’s opening weekend in Indio, Calif., the pop star was spotted at an afterparty wearing a sash that read “Miss Should Be Headliner” — a cheeky statement many on social media interpreted as a jab at the veteran rock band, who headlined the main stage just before her set on Saturday (April 12).
Charli’s tongue-in-cheek dig didn’t go unnoticed by Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. On Saturday (April 19), during the trio’s closing set on weekend two of the festival, Armstrong stepped onto the stage wearing a neon green baseball cap emblazoned with the word “Brat,” a clear nod to the British singer-songwriter’s 2024 studio album of the same name.
To further play along, Green Day drummer Tré Cool was also spotted backstage rocking a handmade white sash that read “Actual Headliner” while flashing a smirk as he held his hands up.
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Despite the playful nature of the situation, Green Day’s fanbase quickly took offense to Charli’s “Miss Should Be Headliner” jab and rallied to defend the punk icons on social media.
During Coachella’s opening weekend, Armstrong altered the lyrics to “Jesus of Suburbia” to reference the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. “Runnin’ away from pain like the kids from Palestine/ Tales from another broken home,” he sang, swapping out the original line, “Runnin’ away from pain when you’ve been victimized.”
“green day making a political statement about s— that actually matters > pop girlies singing about coke,” one fan wrote on X. Another user added, “Charli xcx letting hype get to her head. Green Day used their Coachella headliner slot to speak up for good. They are still bigger than her.”
During Green Day’s weekend two set, Armstrong again altered the lyrics to “Jesus of Suburbia,” this time taking aim at the vice president. “Am I (stupid) or am I just overjoyed?” became “Am I (stupid) or am I just J.D. Vance?” as he sang it to the crowd.
Weekend two of Coachella wraps up Sunday (April 20) with performances by Post Malone, Travis Scott, Megan Thee Stallion, JENNIE, Zedd, Kraftwerk, and more.
Dave Grohl made a surprise appearance during weekend two of Coachella 2025.
On Saturday (April 19), the Foo Fighters frontman took the stage with his guitar to join Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for powerful orchestral renditions of Foos songs “The Sky Is a Neighborhood” and “Everlong” at the Outdoor Theatre of the Indio, Calif., music festival.
The occasion marked Grohl’s first time performing Foo Fighters tracks since revealing last fall that he had fathered a child outside his marriage.
“I love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness,” the musician shared in a September 2024 Instagram post.
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In the months since, Grohl has returned to the stage for several high-profile appearances, including performances with former Nirvana bandmates Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear — joined by guest vocalists — at the FireAid LA Benefit Concert in January and the SNL50: The Homecoming Concert in February.
Grohl wasn’t the only surprise during Saturday’s star-studded Coachella set. Wicked actress Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba opposite Ariana Grande’s Glinda in the live-action adaptation of the Broadway musical, also appeared to perform what is believed to be “Brick by Brick,” a ballad from her forthcoming sophomore album, I Forgive You, according to Rolling Stone.
Erivo followed up with a soulful rendition of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” “Hello Coachella, nice to see you. Would you like a little Prince?” she asked the crowd, who erupted in cheers. “OK, Prince for you then.”
Other guest performers included Natasha Bedingfield, who sang her 2004 hit “Unwritten,” as well as Laufey and Argentine duo Paco Amoroso and Ca7riel.
Dudamel and the LA Phil made their Coachella debut during weekend one on April 12, with an eclectic lineup of special guests including Becky G and LL Cool J. This appearance marks a historic moment for the orchestra, as it’s their first time performing at the festival. The 2025–2026 season will also be Dudamel’s final year as music and artistic director of the LA Phil.
Weekend two of Coachella wraps up Sunday with performances by Post Malone, Travis Scott, Megan Thee Stallion, JENNIE, Zedd, Kraftwerk, and more.
Kendrick Lamar & SZA – who are currently sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100 for the eighth week with their “Luther” collab from the former’s GNX album – kicked off the most anticipated tour of 2025 in Minneapolis on Saturday (April 19) night at the U.S. Bank Stadium. The Grand National Tour’s start saw the […]
