As soon as upon a time, Coachella used to ring in a brand new 12 months of festivals and stay music by releasing its lineup in January. It arrived on this timeframe with such consistency that these first couple weeks of January had been frustratingly sluggish for the competition’s devotees. However these days, apparently, are over. Following up on final 12 months’s shock November lineup drop, Coachella pushed the timeline up two months earlier and revealed its 2026 lineup on Monday, September fifteenth.
The additional early launch suggests two issues: that organizers would ideally like an excellent longer runway to promote tickets (not a foul thought), and so they’re actually assured of their 2026 lineup. When glancing at this upcoming 12 months’s version, it’s simple to see why. Sabrina Carpenter and Karol G will headline the competition as beforehand reported, anchoring Friday and Sunday evening; Justin Bieber — maybe the largest identify of the bunch, and the hardest to nail down — will take the reins on Saturday for his very first solo Coachella efficiency. Additionally, the Italian DJ and producer Anyma is again post-Sphere residency to debut his new present, Æden.
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Elsewhere on the lineup are sub-headlining performances from The xx, The Strokes, and Younger Thug, plus 9 Inch Noize (9 Inch Nails + Boys Noize), Turnstile, Disclosure, Iggy Pop, David Byrne, Interpol, Addison Rae, Dijon, Ethel Cain, Moist Leg, Laufey, BIGBANG, FKA twigs, DEVO, Moby, KATSEYE, Sombr, Alex G, and plenty of extra.
As competition lineups have been more and more wanting increasingly more random, it’s a bit difficult to evaluate the path that huge occasions like Coachella are taking. Final 12 months’s lineup felt extra millennial-coded than ordinary, and the identical might be stated about this 12 months. On the similar time, Coachella reprises the essential technique of nabbing as many ‘acts du jour’ as potential (see: sombr, Addison Rae, KATSEYE, Teddy Swims, and Laufey).
Learn on for the 5 largest takeaways from the Coachella 2026 lineup.
It All Depends upon How You Really feel About Justin Bieber
It was hardly 18 months in the past when a still-burgeoning Sabrina Carpenter seized the principle stage and casually debuted a bit music known as “espresso” at Coachella. Like her fellow Coachella 2024 breakout Chappell Roan, Carpenter’s rise has been stratospheric of late; she may have so simply taken the whole thing of 2026 off following the success of Quick ‘n Candy, however as an alternative she doubled down and put out a fantastic new album, Man’s Greatest Pal. So, it was a no brainer to get Carpenter again for subsequent 12 months’s Coachella. She’s on the peak of her powers, she’s obtained a complete lot of character and charisma on stage, and her stay vocals are wonderful.
Karol G’s rise has been much less ubiquitous however nonetheless undeniably huge. The Colombian pop star carried out a massively attended 2022 set (full with a memorable celebration of Latin pop), grew to become the primary Latin artist to headline Lollapalooza in 2023, dropped her star-studded fifth album Tropicoqueta this summer season, and not too long ago headlined the halftime present for the São Paulo installment of the NFL’s Worldwide Collection.
Then there’s Anyma, which… look, I’m certain his residency on the Sphere was visually spectacular. I can respect an artist who pays as a lot consideration to the visible elements of a stay present as they do for the sonic elements. Nevertheless it’s arduous to not see Anyma because the odd one out on this group of headliners. Is his music actually price such a first-rate slot? Not simply his visuals, however the songs themselves? I think about the SoCal digital heads could have much more to say about his reserving and efficiency than I do (although I additionally suspect that a large portion of his viewers are tech bros).
This brings us to the make or break headliner: Justin Bieber. 10 years in the past, even with the rejuvenation he skilled with Objective, it might have been unthinkable to ebook Bieber as a central headliner. Loads of the core Coachella crowd, who attended this competition within the first section of its existence, is likely to be deterred by the selection. However Swag, his newest album, has been a summer season hit, and most of the followers who grew up with Bieber are partaking with him once more out of nostalgia and due to his “It’s not clocking to you” persona.
Maybe the album actually has labored a miracle and altered the best way normal public see Bieber; so far as we see it, nonetheless, one quite good album doesn’t actually change the truth that his catalog is uneven and plenty of his current music has been boring, worship-lite spouse man pop. Bieber being the ‘legacy’ celebrity is a little bit of a daring danger; he has by no means headlined one of many Large 5 of US festivals, he’s scaled again on stay reveals considerably through the years, his public life has been barely turbulent of late, and he’s a fairly distinctive get, all issues thought-about.
On the similar time, that is Justin Bieber we’re speaking about, not Frank Ocean or Woman Gaga or Taylor Swift. He’s superb. Mid, even.