The Show Goes On

01 Mar, 2017

Lady Gaga will headline both weekends of Coachella, Billboard has learned, replacing Beyoncé, who postponed her performance after announcing she was pregnant with twins.

Gaga will fill in for Beyoncé on consecutive Saturday nights (April 15 and  22) at Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, Calif. Officials with festival organizers Golden voice and AEG Live are finalizing plans to bring Gaga’s huge stage production to Coachella and will make the announcement in the coming days, say sources.

The high-profile replacement comes just five days after representatives for Beyoncé informed AEG’s Golden voice that the “Formation” singer would not be performing at North America’s highest-grossing annual festival based on her doctor’s advice; Beyoncé could have been in the third trimester of her pregnancy during the double-weekend billing. Beyoncé will instead perform at Coachella in 2018.

Lady Gaga will add the double Coachella slot to her already busy 2017 tour schedule, announced shortly after her critically acclaimed performance at Super Bowl LI in Houston. Gaga’s Joanne World Tour kicks off Aug. 1 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C., and includes three nights at the Forum in Los Angeles as well as stops at iconic stadiums like Wrigley Field in Chicago, Citi Field in New York and Fenway Park in Boston.

It was important to Coachella organizers that a female performer replace Beyoncé, insiders tell Billboard, making Gaga the first woman to headline Coachella since Björk in 2007.

Lady Gaga will be joined at Coachella by fellow headliners Radiohead and Kendrick Lamar, as well as the XX, Bon Iver, Future, Lorde and Justice. The festival runs April 14-16 and April 21-23.

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