Surprise: Kacey joins Weekend 2
Kacey Musgraves was announced as a surprise performer for Coachella Weekend 2 — her first Coachella appearance in seven years. (thewrap.com) Justin Bieber’s Weekend 1 return also drew attention: Capital published his full setlist and some critics described his performance as unusually loose and laptop-assisted three and a half years after he paused touring. ( )
Kacey Musgraves is heading back to Coachella for Weekend 2, joining Saturday’s schedule for her first performance at the festival since 2019. (thewrap.com) Coachella’s official site lists the 2026 festival across two weekends, April 10-12 and April 17-19, at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Organizers announced Musgraves as a late addition on Tuesday, April 14, days before Weekend 2 begins. (coachella.com, thewrap.com) Weekend 2 set-time reports say Musgraves was added to Saturday’s Mojave tent lineup, with local coverage describing her as a special guest in the afternoon schedule. The same reports said DJ Rezz canceled her appearance and no replacement was named for Not for Radio. (dailynews.com, desertsun.com) Musgraves last played Coachella on April 12, 2019, during her “Oh, What a World Tour,” and returned for the festival’s second weekend on April 19, 2019. Her seven-year gap means this is a comeback booking, not a first-time debut. (setlist.fm) Her addition lands in a year when Coachella’s headliner plan already changed expectations. When the 2026 lineup was announced in September 2025, TheWrap reported that Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G would top the bill on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (thewrap.com) Bieber’s Weekend 1 set became part of the same conversation. Capital and USA Today both reported that he performed 30 songs during his official Coachella debut on Saturday, April 11. (capitalfm.com, usatoday.com) Reviews and reaction focused less on the song count than on the format. The Independent said Bieber used a laptop on stage and took requests from livestream commenters, while Forbes described a long segment built around archival clips and older songs played from a laptop. (independent.co.uk, forbes.com) That return came more than three and a half years after Bieber halted the rest of his Justice World Tour in September 2022 to prioritize his health. At the time, he said the tour had taken “a real toll” on him. (usatoday.com, upi.com) So Weekend 2 now arrives with two separate storylines on the same poster: Musgraves re-entering the desert lineup after seven years away, and Bieber returning to the stage in a form that split early reviews. Both are set against Coachella’s second weekend, which opens Friday, April 17. (thewrap.com, coachella.com, forbes.com)
