Coachella: Kanye Replaced By The Weeknd, Swedish House Mafia Just 10 Days Before Festival

The Coachella Music and Arts Festival announced today that Kanye West would be replaced as a headliner at next week’s event by The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia. This year’s Coachella runs April 15th-17th & 22nd-24th.

The Weeknd is a known quantity for festival organizers. He topped the bill in 2018.

Swedish House Mafia was already included in the 2022 lineup in an unusual position on its iconic handbill. The group’s moniker was bolded as headliners often are, but set at the bottom preceded by the words “Returning to the Desert.” There has been speculation that the band’s unusual positioning was meant to provide a backup should West renege.

Photos: Coachella Headliners Through The Years, From Beck to Beyoncé to Kanye

West threatened to pull out of this year’s fest earlier in February after demanding fellow headliner Billie Eilish apologize to Travis Scott for what West says was a diss to Scott.

That beef started when Eilish stopped a show in Atlanta to ask her crew to get an inhaler to a fan who was having breathing problems in front of the stage. She said at the time, “I wait for people to be OK before I keep going,” which some perceived to be a diss to Scott after 10 people died at his Astroworld festival in Houston in November. She did not issue an apology to Scott. “Literally never said a thing about Travis. Was just helping a fan,” she said in response to the criticism.

West, who headlined in 2011, reportedly also balked headlining the 2020 festival — which ultimately was postponed due to the pandemic — just days before his participation was to be announced, sources confirmed to Variety.

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