If it feels a bit early (or late in the year) to talk about Coachella, that’s because it is.
Usually, the Indio, California music festival unveils its lineup in January, kicking off the year in North American festivals. But this year, the lineup arrived on November 20th — the earliest Coachella lineup drop since it moved from October to April in 2001. It’s likely an effort to generate a longer runway for ticket sales, given how hostile the landscape is for major festivals right now — not to mention that 2024 was, more or less, an off year for Coachella.
Coachella returns to its usual fanfare in 2025 with Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone, and Travis Scott as headliners. The festival will also feature major sets from Missy Elliott, Charli XCX, Megan Thee Stallion, The Original Misfits, Kraftwerk, LISA, Anitta, JENNIE, Zedd, FKA twigs, and many more.
Keeping on the trends of the last five editions of Coachella, the 2025 selection has a major emphasis on both global acts and electronic stalwarts. But beyond the common occurrence of feeling like you’re getting too old to recognize most of the names on the lineup, Coachella 2025 is kind of messy on purpose. It’s now obvious that festivals on this side of the Atlantic are experiencing an identity crises, and while this Coachella’s 2025 lineup is stronger than last year’s (or even 2022’s, you could argue), it’s still a collection of names that feel particularly random next to each other.
Perhaps that is the grand theme: less overall cohesion in favor of assembling a mosaic, straddled between the past and future. Or, as we’re seeing more frequently in the festival game, it’s becoming harder than ever to work around artists’ touring schedules and financial demands. That means a lot more “Thanks, but no thanks” and a lot less “Yes, of course we’ll play Coachella! ”—and this lineup is the inevitable result.
Here are some more thoughts on the 2025 Coachella lineup…