Karol G makes history

Karol G closed Coachella’s first weekend on Sunday, April 12, as the first Latina artist to headline the festival’s main stage. (pitchfork.com) The Colombian singer topped the Sunday bill at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, where Coachella’s 2026 festival is running April 10 to 12 and April 17 to 19. (coachella.com; pitchfork.com) Reviews described the set as built around large visuals, choreographed staging and guest appearances that included Becky G and Wisin. (hollywoodreporter.com; rollingstone.com) Several outlets said Karol G used the performance to foreground Latin identity, with songs and staging that moved across reggaeton, mariachi and other Latin styles. (theguardian.com; variety.com) The booking adds a new first to a festival that has long treated headliner slots as a marker of pop’s biggest acts. Pitchfork said it was the first time in Coachella’s 25-year history that a Latina topped the main-stage billing. (pitchfork.com; coachella.com) Karol G arrived at Coachella after a run of commercial milestones that made her one of the biggest Spanish-language pop stars in the world. Rolling Stone noted that her 2023 to 2024 “Mañana Será Bonito” stadium tour sold more than 1 million tickets across 12 countries. (rollingstone.com) Coverage from the field treated the show as one of the defining performances of Weekend One. The Guardian called it “electrifying,” while the Los Angeles Times said it belonged in the festival’s hall of fame. (theguardian.com; latimes.com) Weekend Two begins April 17, and Karol G is scheduled to return to the desert with the same headliner slot now carrying a piece of Coachella history. (coachella.com)