The Weeknd & Swedish House Mafia Replacing Kanye West As Coachella Headliners
The latest Coachella lineup saga has come to a conclusion. Two days ago, Kanye West dropped off the festival; he was supposed to headline both Sundays. It’s not the first time West had signed up for and then backed out of Coachella, having also cancelled in 2019 when the festival wouldn’t build him a giant dome. Now, Variety has broken the news that West will be replaced by a Weeknd x Swedish House Mafia set.
There were a lot of other big names thrown around as potential replacements — including Silk Sonic, Justin Bieber, and Tyler, The Creator — but this makes a lot of sense. Leading up to the eventual announcement of the 2022 lineup, there had already been rumors that the reunited Swedish House Mafia would be a headliner. When the lineup was announced, they were listed at the bottom of the poster, in headliner font but without any more details. Variety speculated that the vagueness was a contingency plan for this exact scenario, with the festival having a backup if West pulled out.
The Weeknd, of course, also makes a ton of sense, as he’ll be gearing up to take his After Hours and Dawn FM stadium tour on the road in the summer. The premise of him and Swedish House Mafia churning out those hits on Sunday night seems pretty promising. Below, you can see the new (and improved?) Coachella 2022 lineup.