Coachella 2019: Ariana Grande, Childish Gambino, Billie Eilish and Special Guests Make for a Memorable Weekend 1

The first weekend of Coachella 2019 is officially a wrap, and thousands of music lovers congregated in the sweltering California desert. From big names like Ariana Grande, who is only the fourth woman ever to headline the festival, to a variety of rising artists from around the world, there was something for everyone this year.

Relatively mild temperatures on Friday made the experience more bearable for festival-goers during the day, and the ladies ruled the evening, including international artists such as as Spanish singer Rosalia and Korean girl group BLACKPINK. American country songstress Kacey Musgrave took the stage close to six, and despite the crowd’s failure to correctly “yeehaw” during her set, they responded with enthusiasm to songs from her Grammy-winning album “Golden Hour,” including “Butterflies,” “Oh, What A World” and “Lonely Weekend.” Janelle Monáe, meanwhile, donned the infamous vagina pants from her music video when she performed empowerment anthem “Pynk,” and, later in the set, did a twerk-off with special guest Lizzo. Another highlight of the evening was a surprise appearance from Selena Gomez and Cardi B, who popped up during DJ Snake’s set to join him in his performance of their hit song “Taki Taki” alongside Ozuna.

The guys on Friday also come to impress. Anderson .Paak, whose fourth album “Ventura” dropped hours before he took the stage, declared his performance an unofficial release party. Headliner Childish Gambino demanded the crowd put away their phones and be in the moment for his 90-minute set that included “Boogieman,”“Terrified,” “Sober” and “3005.” Gambino, also known as Donald Glover, hit a somber note when he paid tribute to his late father, as well as gone-too-soon artists Nipsey Hussle and Mac Miller.

Before Gambino’s performance, festival-goers had the opportunity to view “Guava Island,” an hour-long film starring Gambino/Glover as Deni, the most popular musician on the eponymous island. Rihanna co-stars as his love interest, Kofi. While Gambino sings multiple songs throughout the movie, such as “This is America,” Rihanna’s role is non-musical. “Guava Island” can currently be streamed on Amazon Prime.

France’s Christine and the Queens got the crowd going Saturday with her infectious energy and impressive troupe of dancers. Singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers also slayed with passionate performances of  songs such as “Back In My Body” and “Fallingwater.” Weezer played tracks off their recent album of cover songs, surprising the crowd by bringing out some of the original artists to perform with them—Tears for Fears (“Everybody Wants to Rule the World”) and Chilli of TLC (“No Scrubs”).

Billie Eilish may have been 30 minutes late for her set, but she did not disappoint, especially when special guest Vince Staples joined her for their high-energy collaboration “&Burn.” Headliner Tame Impala kept up the positive vibes going, not only with songs such as “Let It Happen” and “The Less I Know the Better,” but also with their stunning laser light show and other colorful visuals.

Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton singer Bad Bunny got the party started Sunday, and his friend J Balvin joined him onstage for a high-energy rendition of their song “I Like It.” But it was Zedd who wowed everyone with his special guest, “the one and only” Katy Perry, who performed their collaboration “365.” Khalid, meanwhile, brought out Halsey and Billie Eilish, while Gucci Gang kept the party going with hits like “Do Not Disturb.”

But it was Ariana Grande who owned Sunday night, belting out “God is a Woman” and other recent hits from “Sweetener” and “Thank U, Next,” as well as older favorites such as “Bang Bang,” for which she was joined by Nicki Minaj. Despite some technical issues, the ladies brought down the house. But the big surprise came when Grande brought out iconic boy band ‘N Sync (minus Justin Timberlake) for ““Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored,” which samples ‘N Sync’s “Makes Me Ill,” and their classic “Tearin’ Up My Heart.” The pop star went even more old school after Diddy and Muse came out for “Mo Money Mo Problems.”

Coachella 2019 Weekend 1 took place April 12-14 in Indio, CA.