Weekend 2 at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is often earmarked by fewer special guests jumping up with the scheduled performers, but that doesn’t mean there are no special guests on the second weekend.
And when they show up, they are almost more exciting because of the unexpected nature of their arrival.
Here is a complete rundown of the special guests we saw or heard about during Weekend 2.
Olivia Rodrigo stuns afternoon crowd by joining Addison Rae
In an afternoon surprise, Olivia Rodrigo joined Addison Rae to sing the song made famous by Rae “Headphones On” to the delight and stunned screams of the afternoon crowd.
Rodrigo then stayed and sang her new song “Drop Dead.” A song that was just released Friday.
It was Rodrigo’s first appearance on the Coachella Stage since joining No Doubt in a memorable guest spot in 2024.
Madonna blesses Sabrina Carpenter’s stage
On the 20th anniversary of Madonna’s first appearance at Coachella, the pop superstar graced the stage for a surprise appearance during Sabrina Carpenter’s headlining set. Appearing near the end of the Carpenter’s performance, Madonna performed two songs with the headliner as well as a solo of a new track.
Madonna, 67, wore a lavender one-piece and strutted up and down the stage with Sabrina in perfect coordination. The 80’s pop icon then disappeared into the floor before Carpenter finished her set.
It was the first time Madonna had appeared at Coachella since her notorious guest spot with Drake in 2015. The two shared a long kiss, apparently to Drake’s chagrin. The rapper had an odd look on his face after it finished.
But there was nothing odd about Madonna’s 2026 showcase, just pure showmanship.
In the actor category, Sabrina Carpenter brought out Geena Davis for the monologue that Susan Sarandon did last week. “Thelma and Louise” anyone? And the quickly topless Terry Crews of “Brooklyn 99” was in the Will Ferrell Mr. Fix-it role.
Anyma brings out Lisa, Joji, Swae Lee and Muse vocalist Matt Bellamy
Better late than never. That’s certainly the case for Anyma, the American DJ whose Weekend 1 performance was cancelled due to strong winds. It could have been expected that any guests who had been scheduled to come out during Weekend 1 would be unavailable for Weekend 2, but thankfully that didn’t happen.
Anyma punctuated his set with a handful of top-of-the-line guests, Blackpink’s Lisa being the biggest star of the bunch. She performed “Bad Angel” in a white flowing jumpsuit. Livestream viewers were treated to a larger-than-life hologram of a mechanized angel that stood by as Lisa sang.
The guest list was an embarrassment of riches, with Muse vocalist Matt Bellamy, internet sensation Joji and Swae Lee, who joined Anyma onstage even though his own set had ended just 35 minutes before Anyma’s began.
CMAT with the marionettes
The smile-inducing Bob Baker Marionettes returned to start everyone’s Coachella off with gleeful silliness, but unlike Weekend 1, this time they had a human with them.
Irish singer CMAT (Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson) joined the Marionettes to sing her song “Take a Sexy Picture of Me.” She performed with the star marionette, Pink Cat, to sing the song as a duet. When CMAT started singing, Pink Cat said “Whoa! The Pipes on this one!” And the grinning crowd agreed.
The song ended as CMAT got down to a knee to match the eye-line of the 3-foot-tall marionette and the two sang together and vogued for the cameras matching the song’s theme. CMAT will perform her own set on the same stage later in the day Friday.
David Lee Roth joins Teddy Swims … again
A week after Teddy Swims brought out Joe Jonas, Vanessa Carlton and David Lee Roth as special guests, only one came back for the second week. David Lee Roth, the 71-year-old rocker and frontman of Van Halen, joined Swims to perform the Van Halen classic “Jump.”
GloRilla, Ty Dolla $ign surprise during Sexyy Red’s closing performance
In 2025, Sexyy Red surprised the audience as a guest during GloRilla’s Sahara set. In 2026, GloRilla returned the favor. She came out for the St. Louis rapper for “WHATCHU KNOW ABOUT ME,” the song that features both performers.
Another 2025 throwback included Ty Dolla $ign, show showed up for “DON’T KILL THE PARTY” and “Happy Birthday.” The singer also appeared on the previous year’s lineup, also performing at the Sahara tent.
French Montana and Slim Jxmmi join Swae Lee
Not to be outdone by the other artists, Swae Lee included French Montana and his brother and fellow bandmate Slim Jxmmi for his Friday set. French Montana performed “Unforgettable” and “SUITCASE” while Slim Jxmmi joined Swae for two Rae Sremmurd hits, “This Could Be Us” and “Black Beatles.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Madonna, Olivia Rodrigo, Lisa highlight Coachella Weekend 2 guest list
Reporting by Niki Kottmann, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
