BINI makes Coachella history
Filipino pop group BINI became the first Filipino group to perform at Coachella and their set trended #1 worldwide on X, a big visibility moment for OPM on the festival stage. (x.com) Weekend 1 kicked off April 10 with more than 100 acts across eight stages and an official livestream schedule, so BINI’s appearance reached a global audience. (timeout.com)
BINI walked onto the Mojave stage at Coachella on Friday, April 10, at 4:15 p.m. Pacific time and became the first Filipino act to perform at the festival, turning a 45-minute afternoon slot into one of the weekend’s most watched debuts. That happened at a festival big enough to feel like its own city: Time Out counted eight main stages for Weekend 1, and Coachella’s official stream put seven of them on YouTube starting at 4 p.m. Pacific time on April 10. BINI is not a one-off project built for this festival run. The group was formed through Star Hunt Academy in 2019, and the eight members spent years training before becoming one of the biggest names in Filipino pop. Those eight members are Jhoanna, Aiah, Colet, Maloi, Gwen, Stacey, Mikha, and Sheena, and Harper’s Bazaar Singapore reported that the group had already crossed one billion Spotify streams before Coachella. Their rise came with songs that traveled far beyond the Philippines. Forbes noted that “Pantropiko” had 119 million views on its official performance video on YouTube, while “Salamin, Salamin” had more than 201 million streams on Spotify before the Coachella set. At Coachella, they opened with “Shagidi,” switched from modern-Filipino outfits with salakot-inspired headpieces into gold-and-blue stagewear, and mixed English tracks with Tagalog hits instead of sanding down their identity for a United States festival crowd. The setting mattered too. ABS-CBN described Mojave as one of Coachella’s signature stages, and BINI played there in a slot that was livestreamed globally rather than buried in an off-camera side tent. Their setlist was built to introduce new viewers fast: Forbes reported that it included “Blink Twice,” “Pantropiko,” “Salamin, Salamin,” and the live debut of “Blush,” so first-time listeners got both the established hits and a new release in one pass. Onstage, they made the pitch plain. “We are BINI! All the way from the Philippines!” was how ABS-CBN quoted the group addressing the crowd before moving back into the set. Coachella has spent years acting as a gatekeeper for which non-Western acts get a giant American festival platform, so a Filipino group getting a streamed Mojave slot puts Original Pilipino Music in front of the same global audience tuning in for headliners and breakout stars. BINI is scheduled to do it again on Friday, April 17, for Weekend 2, which means this was not a one-night cameo but a booked place in both halves of Coachella 2026.
