Bieber’s Coachella Night

Justin Bieber closed Coachella on Saturday night with his first full festival headlining set, ending a four-year gap between major live shows. (billboard.com) He took the main Coachella stage at about 11:30 p.m. on April 11 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, during the festival’s first weekend. Coachella’s official 2026 dates are April 10 to 12 and April 17 to 19. (hollywoodreporter.com) (coachellavalley.com) The set mixed new material from *Swag* and *Swag II* with older hits, and Bieber brought out Tems and Wizkid during the show. Billboard reported that he had previously appeared with Tems and Wizkid at Coachella in 2024, but this time he was the headliner. (billboard.com) (hollywoodreporter.com) The guest spots tied Bieber’s set to one of the biggest crossover songs in recent pop. Wizkid’s “Essence,” featuring Tems, became a global hit in 2021, and Bieber later joined the remix that pushed the song deeper into United States pop radio. (qed.ng) (billboard.com) Saturday’s booking also capped a comeback story that had been building since Bieber canceled the remaining dates of his Justice World Tour in 2023 after a run of postponements tied to health issues. He revealed in 2022 that he had Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which caused partial facial paralysis. (usatoday.com) (news.sky.com) In the months before Coachella, Bieber had returned to smaller rooms first. Billboard reported that he played the Roxy and the Troubadour in West Hollywood before moving back up to the festival’s biggest stage. (billboard.com) Reports ahead of the festival said Bieber’s Coachella deal was worth $10 million, a figure that would make him the highest-paid headliner in the event’s history. Billboard Canada, citing Rolling Stone, reported that the deal topped Beyoncé’s reported $8 million payday in 2018. (ca.billboard.com) The show itself was notably spare for a top-line Coachella set. The Hollywood Reporter described a stripped-back production with no backup dancers, few props, and long stretches with Bieber alone onstage, while Billboard said he used a laptop and old YouTube clips to revisit songs from his early career. (hollywoodreporter.com) (billboard.com) That made the night read less like a greatest-hits victory lap than a reset in front of Coachella’s biggest crowd. One week from now, Bieber is scheduled to do it again on Saturday, April 18, for the festival’s second weekend. (hollywoodreporter.com) (setlist.fm)