This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.Justin Bieber is headlining Coachella this month: How the pop star is forging a new path

Kaitlin ReillyWed, April 8, 2026 at 4:37 PM UTC

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Justin Bieber is back. For the first time in his nearly two-decade-long career, the artist is headlining Coachella, performing on Saturday, April 11, and Saturday, April 18.

The singer, who previously appeared on the Indio, Calif., music festival stage as a guest artist alongside acts like Tems, will reportedly receive a massive $10 million payday — a deal he supposedly negotiated directly with festival promoter Goldenvoice.

Bieber’s greatly anticipated Coachella performances come after a series of career highs — and lows. His 2025 two-part album, Swag, received four Grammy nominations and became a critical and commercial success. However, that same year, a series of interactions with paparazzi raised alarms over Bieber’s health — audio from which Bieber included on Swag. (​​“It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business, is it? I’m a human being, you’re standing around my car, at the beach,” Bieber says on the appropriately titled track “Standing on Business,” featuring Druski.)

Swag came after the “Yukon” artist ended his 2022 Justice tour early. He initially postponed dates, citing exhaustion and a desire to make health a priority. That same year, Bieber was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which left his face partially paralyzed.

The singer also parted ways with longtime manager Scooter Braun in 2023 after Braun stepped back from artist management, further suggesting a crossroads in Bieber’s career. That same year, he sold the rights to his catalog of music released through 2021 to Hipgnosis Songs Capital, reportedly for more than $200 million.

But now Coachella could mark a major milestone for the pop star. The father of Jack Blues Bieber has already been giving fans something to look forward to in performances leading up to the main event.

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Justin Bieber played a surprise show in Los Angeles ahead of Coachella

Before this month’s music festival, Bieber stepped out for a series of intimate, invite-only performances in Los Angeles. In March, he performed at the Roxy Theatre, before hitting the stage at the Troubadour in April. At both shows, he sang songs exclusively off Swag, like "Daisies," "Yukon," "Go Baby" and "Devotion." Bieber shared videos of the performances on Instagram.

Typically, Coachella has performers sign a (somewhat controversial) “radius clause,” which prevents artists from performing in Southern California from the December before Coachella takes place through the May after the festival. The goal of the clause is to ensure that Coachella will benefit from the artist’s placement on its lineup. However, artists can occasionally get around the clause or adjust it in their contract.

Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber at the 68th Grammy Awards. (Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty Images)

While it’s unclear whether Bieber’s Los Angeles shows offer a preview of his entire Coachella setlist, it’s worth noting that because Bieber sold the rights to his back catalog of music to all songs he released through 2021, he will not receive performance royalties for older tracks.

Bieber recently performed at the Grammys

Bieber’s small shows in Los Angeles weren’t his only performance ahead of Coachella: He also took the Grammys stage in February, where he stripped down to just shorts and socks to sing his Swag track “Yukon.” His wife, Hailey Bieber, was emotional in the audience as Bieber showed off a back tattoo that was supposedly a portrait of the Rhode Beauty founder.

The awards show’s executive producer, Ben Winston, said that Bieber’s rehearsal for the set moved quickly.

“He came to the stage, he did it once,” the producer told the podcast Rolling Stone Music Nowafter the show. “It was brilliant. We are seven minutes into his hour-and-a-half rehearsal. And he goes, ‘How’d it look to you? You happy with it?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, my God. It looked beautiful. I loved it.’ And he went, ‘OK, fantastic. See you Sunday!'”

Justin Bieber during the Grammys. (John Shearer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

The stripped-down number was the first time Bieber performed at the Grammys in four years. In 2022, he was joined by Daniel Caesar and Giveon for a performance of “Peaches,” off his 2021 album, Justice.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”