Music
Kanye West’s Coachella Replacements Have Been Confirmed
The Weeknd will replace Kanye West as one of the headline acts at Coachella 2022.
West pulled out of the festival earlier this week, leaving organisers rushing to fill Sunday’s headline slot. Now, a newly released poster confirms that The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia have replaced West.
Swedish House Mafia were already announced to perform at the festival in a somewhat ambiguous capacity, with some suggestion that the group were lined up to replace West after he cancelled his previously scheduled set at Coachella 2020.
The new headliners join Harry Styles and Billie Eilish, who fill the Friday and Saturday slots respectively.
“I’m so looking forward to this moment with Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd finishing out the Sunday night slot this year,” Coachella CEO Paul Tollett told Variety. “Coachella has a special relationship with Abel and I’m so thankful to have this upcoming performance with these iconic artists all on the same stage.”
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The Weeknd previously collaborated with Swedish House Mafia on his single Moth to a Flame, which debuted in October 2021. The house music group also created a so-called “alternate world” remix of The Weeknd’s track, Sacrifice.
While no official reason was given for West’s exit from the festival, the decision follows weeks of somewhat unpredictable online activity, culminating in an Instagram ban after West used a racial slur in a post about The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah.
The television host had called out the Donda artist for “harassing” his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, and said that his behaviour was “terrifying to watch”.
In February West had also threatened to exit Coachella 2022 over comments made by fellow headliner Billie Eilish.
The 20-year-old singer said she would “wait for people to be okay before I keep going”, after halting a concert to help a fan find an inhaler.
Though she did not name Travis Scott, her comments were widely considered to reference his performance at Astroworld, where 10 people died during a crowd surge.
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