Coachella wouldn’t be Coachella without its rush of special guests.
Last year, Coachella saw the gamut of special guests, including Queen’s Brian May joining Benson Boone for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody;’ Billie Joe Armstrong taking the stage to play with The Go-Go’s; and Becky G performing “On My Body” with Tyla.
Here’s our running list of the guest appearances, which we’ll be adding to throughout the weekend.
Justin Bieber brings out Dijon, Wizkid, Tems and The Kid LAROI
The first true hit of Justin Bieber’s Saturday night headlining set was “Stay,” and the crowd roared when he brought out the featured artist, The Kid LAROI, to sing it with him. Later in the set — after Biebs’ ode to YouTube segment was over — he brought out several more special guests: Dijon on “Devotion,” Tems on “I Think You’re Special,” and Wizkid and Tems on “Essence” (Wizkid’s song).
Susan Sarandon, Will Ferrell and Sam Elliott show up for Sabrina Carpenter
Sam Elliott, the actor known for his deep voice and signature mustache, played the role of a police officer in a dramatic video intro ahead of Sabrina Carpenter’s headlining set Friday.
After a few songs, Oscar winning actress Susan Sarandon surprised the Coachella crowd with a monologue spoken from a stationary car in the middle of the set. The actress spoke about showbusiness and performing, although it was difficult to hear her at times.
Corey Fogelmanis, Carpenter’s former costar on “Girl Meets World,” played the brief role of a waiter for Sarandon during her monologue (while Carpenter was doing a costume change) and Will Ferrell then showed up later, during a comedic bit when the lights on the stage seemingly went out. Ferrell acted as a repairman tasked with plugging in the lights.
No singers joined Carpenter onstage, so the spotlight remained on her throughout the performance.
Karol G brings out Mariah Angeliq, Becky G, Wisin
Karol G knows how to make an entrance. Although she was 30 minutes late to her Sunday headlining set, she wasted no time, bringing out her first special guest, Mariah Angeliq, within the first few songs to sing “El Makinon.”
Later in the set, Karol G brought out Mexican-American singer (and Coachella regular) Becky G to sing their song “Mamiii,” which the pair also sang together during Karol G’s Coachella debut in 2022.
Then, there was a long section of the set in which Karol G brought out Puerto Rican rapper/singer Wisin — one half of the iconic reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel — to sing four of the duo’s songs.
Joe Jonas, Vanessa Carlton and David Lee Roth join Teddy Swims
The first major special guest alert at Coachella 2026 officially rung as Joe Jonas surprised the afternoon crowd Friday by joining Teddy Swims for a duet on the Jonas Brothers song “When You Look Me in the Eyes.”
Passersby started running toward the Coachella Stage at around 5:30 p.m. as they realized what was happening.
Swims also brought out singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton to sing “A Thousand Miles,” and Van Halen star David Lee Roth to sing “Jump.”
Jennifer Lopez surprises fans at David Guetta set
After some internet speculation that it might happen, Jennifer Lopez did indeed surprise the crowd at David Guetta’s Saturday set to perform their new track, “Save Me Tonight,” together for the first time live.
Travis Barker performs with Clipse
Clipse, the Grammy Award-winning rap duo comprised of brothers Pusha T and Malice, brought out Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker for their Sunday afternoon set at the Outdoor Theatre.
‘KPop Demon Hunters’ singers with KATSEYE make for a ‘Golden’ moment
Coachella fans got to imagine what it would be like if the fictional, demon-slaying girl group HUNTR/X from “KPop Demon Hunters” were festival performers.
That’s thanks to KATSEYE’s set, which brought out Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami — the women who lent their voices for the singing parts of the hit movie — to perform “Golden.”
This may not have been a surprise to everyone as Ejae was spotted rehearsing the song with KATSEYE earlier in the week. But it didn’t make the moment any less golden.
Giveon brings out Kehlani
As a surprise, Giveon invited Kehlani to his Coachella set, where the two performed “Folded” and plugged the singer’s upcoming album set to drop April 24.
Wet Leg jams out with horsegiirL
English Indie rock band Wet Leg brought a familiar face — sort of — onstage during their Coachella main stage debut Sunday. The DJ/singer horsegiirL, who also appeared during PinkPantheress’ Saturday Coachella set, came out to jam with the girls in her signature mask.
Grimes surprise guest stars during Cobrah’s set
Grimes surprised the Coachella Weekend 1 audience on Sunday by joining Cobrah during her set to sing their new song, “Sign from God,” for the first time live together.
Major Lazer brings out M.I.A.
Major Lazer, aka the electronic music project of record producer Diplo, DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums and vocalist America Foster, tore up the Coachella Stage late Sunday afternoon and brought out British singer/rapper M.I.A. to sing “Paper Planes.”
Thundercat surprises audience at Suicidal Tendencies set
Los Angeles heavy metal group Suicidal Tendencies rocked the worlds of those in their Mojave tent audience early Sunday evening when they brought out fellow Angeleno Thundercat, aka singer/producer/bassist Stephen Lee Bruner, to perform with them.
Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan joins Sombr
Sombr brought out legendary Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan — making his Coachella debut — to sing the band’s hit “1979” on Saturday. Though it was initially plagued with mic issues for Corgan, they bounced back by the time the iconic chorus began.
The Dare, DJ horsegiirL, Precious Renee Tucker, Tyriq Withers join PinkPantheress onstage
PinkPantheress performed a jam-packed set full of special guests Saturday, including Precious Renee Tucker to play piano on “Pain,” The Dare to play a remix of Addison Rae’s “Fame is a Gun” and Charli XCX’s “Guess” while PinkPantheress did a costume change, and DJ horsegiirL, who was part of a scene outside a “club” that people were trying to get into. PinkPantheress also did several onstage (and very flirty) acting bits with “Reminders of Him” star Tyriq Withers, who appeared to potentially kiss her at the end (but the action was obstructed by a big sign a dancer placed over the pair reading “The End.”
Rauw Alejandro surprise guest stars at RØZ set
Puerto Rican musician Rauw Alejandro made a surprise appearance during the RØZ pop-up experience at Red Bull Mirage on Saturday to debut an unreleased remix of “Pongo” (ft. WizKid and Rvssian).
Snoop Dogg, Big Sean join HUGEL
As HUGEL performed his late afternoon set Friday, Snoop Dogg jumped in to join him. The icon headlined the festival in 2012, and fans were definitely not expecting to see him at the French DJ and music producer’s 4:50 p.m. set in the Sahara.
Also joining the stage was rapper Big Sean; Fans may remember that he was brought out by Mustard during the Grammy-winning producer’s set during Coachella 2025.
Emilia breaks it down with Luísa Sonza
Argentine pop singer Emilia surprised fans by joining Luísa Sonza onstage Saturday during the Brazilian star’s Coachella 2026 set on the Gobi stage. The duo performed their standout collaborations “bunda” and “MOTINHA 2.0 (Mete Marcha) – Remix.”
Levity brings out Big Sean
EDM trio Levity brought out rapper Big Sean during their Sahara set, performing a live flip of “Dance (A$$).”
Porter Robinson joins Ninajirachi
Clips posted online captured the moment when Ninajirachi asked if she could play the crowd a new song, saying she made it with one of her friends. Turns out, it was producer Porter Robinson.
Khalid, Leven Kali perform with Disclosure
It was starting to feel like Friday wasn’t getting enough surprise musical guests (aka not the kind we got during Carpenter’s set) when suddenly we got news that Khalid was onstage during Disclosure’s set to perform his song “Talk,” and that singer Leven Kali also joined Disclosure earlier in the set.
Lizzo surprises crowd at Sexyy Red
Lizzo has been a surprise guest at Coachella before (anyone remember when she joined headliner Harry Styles onstage at Coachella 2022?) but this time, when she surprised fans watching rapper Sexyy Red’s set in the Sahara, she put on a particularly memorable show because she didn’t sing — just came out to play the flute.
Jacob Lusk joins Moby
Former “American Idol” Jacob Lusk contestant joined Moby for his Coachella set, per clips reposted by the musician on his Instagram story. The musician released a new version of “When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die” featuring Lusk earlier this year.
John Summit, Romy, more give surprise sets at Do LaB stage
The Do LaB stage featured a surprise set by DJ and producer John Summit on Friday night. However, the set went a bit south when a stage light supposedly fell and injured an attendee, causing organizers to temporarily close the Do Lab Friday night.
On Saturday, the Do Lab was back up and running, and the surprise lineup addition was The xx guitarist and backing vocalist Romy.
On Sunday, the surprise additions to the Do Lab lineup were Anyma (whose Friday night Coachella Stage closing set was canceled due to high winds) and Isaiah Rashad.
Desert Sun staff Shad Powers and Ema Sasic contributed to this story.
This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Every surprise we saw at Coachella, from Jennifer Lopez to Joe Jonas
Reporting by Daniella Segura, Paris Barraza and Niki Kottmann, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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