The Weeknd x Swedish House Mafia Replace Kanye West as Headliners for Coachella 2022
Alexander Wessely
Kanye West was supposed to headline this year’s Coachella across both Sundays of the festival. However, repeating his 2019 move of backing out of the festival, West dropped off the 2022 line-up two days ago.
Now Variety has confirmed that a set from The Weeknd x Swedish House Mafia will be replacing Kanye’s set. They will be performing on the festival-closing Sunday night slot, joining Harry Styles (Friday) and Billie Eilish (Saturday) as Coachella’s 2022 headliners.
Swedish House Mafia was anticipated as a headliner before the line-up announcement in early January.
When the line-up dropped, they were indeed added in headliner font at the bottom of the poster, with no other details. Variety previously speculated that this was a contingency plan for this exact scenario, with the festival having a backup in case West pulled out.
The Weeknd headlined the festival in 2018 and made his first high-profile concert appearance there in 2012.
Paul Tollett, president/CEO of Coachella promoter Goldenvoice, spoke of the SHM x The Weeknd set, “I’m so looking forward to this moment with Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd finishing out the Sunday night slot this year.”
What exactly a combined set between these icons will look like is uncertain. But this will certainly be a boundary-breaking performance.
Coachella 2022 will take place on April 15-17 and April 22-24.
