Music
After opting for a more lowkey performance last weekend, Coachella headliner Justin Bieber brought out two major guests on stage: SZA and Billie Eilish.
During Weekend 1 at the Indio, Calif. music fest, Bieber took the main stage with just a laptop and a microphone, cuing up throwback tracks on YouTube and singing along to them live. After opting for a similar start, he then called up Eilish to the stage for “One Less Lonely Girl” and brought out SZA, with whom he sang “Snooze.”
SZA previously brought out Bieber during her and Kendrick Lamar’s Grand National Tour stop in Los Angeles last year. Bieber returned the favor last night, bringing out the SOS singer as his closing guest. (The “Daisies” singer had a cameo in the music video for “Snooze” and appeared as a featured artist on the acoustic version of the song.)
Earlier, avowed Belieber Eilish could be seen encouraged onto the stage by Hailey Bieber. After being ushered up, she and Bieber embraced as he continued his time-honored serenade with the My World single. Eilish then ran back into the crowd, overwhelmed with emotion.
Watch on Deadline
It was a full-circle moment for both, as Eilish has previously cited the Swag artist as an inspiration before meeting him at Coachella seven years ago. The two have also collaborated on a remix for her hit “Bad Guy,” released later that year.
The two-time Grammy-winning “Yukon” singer also brought out rappers Sexyy Red and Big Sean. With the former, he sang their song “Sweet Spot,” and with the latter — “As Long As You Love Me” and “No Pressure.”
Weekend 2 comes after the musician faced earlier critique for his minimalistic approach, especially when compared to fellow headliner Sabrina Carpenter’s intricate and elaborate performance. Last night, he similarly traipsed through memory lane on the video streaming site, though it made more noise as a novel concept last weekend, when he also brought out guests like Dijon and Mk.gee (who helped produce Swag and Swag II), Wizkid and Tems (for “Essence”) and The Kid LAROI. (Dijon, who also had a solo set at Coachella, was brought out again last night.)
The stripped-down approach is in line with Bieber’s Grammy performance earlier this year, when he took to the stage with a mic and purple guitar.
In general, Coachella has been a star-studded affair. On Friday night, Carpenter brought out Madonna for rousing performances of “Like a Prayer” and “Vogue.” Karol G is the headliner tonight, closing out the fest.