Eileen Lopez stood in front of Karol G’s larger-than-life Latina Foreva installation earlier in the day, its shimmering walls lined with flags from across Latin America. With a Mexican flag in hand, she waited for her turn to take a photo. Dressed in bright red, the Indio local smiled as she talked about the first time she saw the Colombian star perform at Coachella, not in person, but from her living room just miles away.
“When I first saw Karol G, it was actually a couple of years ago when she last performed here and I was watching from my living room online, but we went outside and could actually hear it,” Lopez said. “I knew I had to be here this time.”
On Sunday night, she was.
As Karol G closed out the final night of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Lopez found herself among thousands witnessing a milestone that felt long overdue: a Latina headliner commanding one of the biggest stages in the world, on her own terms.
“I’m just proud,” Lopez said. “It’s important for us Latinos to be proud right now. Don’t be afraid to represent your roots, representation is so important right now.”
That pride carried across the Empire Polo Club grounds as Karol G opened her set with “Latina Foreva,” immediately setting the tone for a performance rooted in identity, celebration and connection. Over the course of the night, she moved fluidly through reggaeton, salsa and baile funk, crafting a set that was like a reflection of the many sounds that shape Latin music across generations.
Backed by high-energy choreography and a rotating ensemble of dancers and musicians, she kept the pace tight while allowing space for moments that felt intimate. An all-female mariachi group joined her for “Ese Hombre es Malo,” adding a striking visual that drew one of the night’s biggest reactions. Later, Becky G joined her for “MAMII,” sending a wave of energy through the crowd as fans from the front barricade to deep in the field sang every word.
Guest appearances continued with Wisin, who brought a run of reggaeton classics including “Rakata” and “Pam Pam,” a reminder of the genre’s roots and evolution. In a more unexpected turn, Karol G also welcomed Greg González for the debut of a new track, expanding the emotional range of the set without disrupting its flow.
Still, some of the most memorable moments weren’t happening onstage.
During the slower, more melodic stretches, the crowd began to shift. Couples turned toward each other, friends grabbed hands, and small pockets of people broke into salsa steps, bachata turns and easy two-steps. It wasn’t something Karol asked for, it just happened. Across the field, the festival briefly felt as if it was morphing into a backyard gathering, the kind where music plays late into the night and everyone knows how to move to it.
Karol G leaned into that feeling throughout the set, weaving in moments that honored both personal and collective memory. A cover of Gloria Estefan’s “Mi Tierra” served as a nod to the artists who paved the way, while songs like “El Makinon” kept the energy grounded in the present.
By the time she reached her final stretch, she closed with “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido.” Karol stepped back just enough to let the crowd take over, thousands of voices carrying the song across the desert in a moment that felt both celebratory and deeply personal.
For fans like Lopez, the night carried a kind of pride that was hard to ignore, unfolding across the crowd in real time. As Karol G closed out the festival, her set reflected something larger taking shape onstage: a sound, a language and a community fully at home in a space this big.
In the end, Karol G stood before the sold-out festival and said it plainly:
“I am Carolina Giraldo from Medellín, Colombia. Today, I am the first Latina woman to headline Coachella.”
FKA Twigs
British art-pop singer-dancer FKA Twigs was supposed to bring her Eusexua Tour to Coachella in 2025 before visa issues scuttled her entire North American tour. On Sunday, she more than showed the wait was worth it.
Now retooled and renamed the Body High Tour, FKA Twigs delivered a 75-minute spectacle of narrative and emotion, fashion and design, all of it tied together with the music of “Eusexua” and its follow-up “Eusexua Afterglow.”
The show opened with “Meta Angel,” Twigs still in bed, slowly rising as a male dancer in angel wings came closer. “Figure 8” followed with more barely clothed dancers joining her in bed, twisting and turning around her as she sang.
From there, the protagonist’s journey shifted through different songs and stages. The second act focused on club culture with dance beats driving the story and choreography. Act III opened with the title track of “Eusexua,” sung by FKA Twigs in a futuristic black dress with exaggerated shoulders and crimson porcupine quill-inspired headpiece.
At different points pole dancers, including Twigs, dangled and twirled from the sides of the stage. The final act brought the narrative of the performance home with “Cellophane” literally, with a return to the bed from which she began. A true highlight of the weekend.
Young Thug
Atlanta rapper Young Thug began his set on the mainstage with a drone show that morphed into several different shapes in the sky before he kicked off the show with “Ski.” Young Thug put some effort into the rest of the production as well, using pyrotechnics and fireworks throughout the performance.
The rest of the set was full of little treats for the rapper’s fans, packed with songs that hadn’t been performed live in years, and featured some of their respective collaborators on stage. Ty Dolla $ign was the first to join Young Thug for a ¥$ cover of “Carnival,” which hasn’t been performed live since 2015. A few songs later, Camilla Cabello joined him for “Havana,” which also hadn’t been performed for nearly a decade. He then welcomed Nav to debut their song “Trimski.” The show was full of throwback hits, and his inclusion of each special guest made it seem like a celebration,than just a performance.
Young Thug just wrapped a lengthy trial after spending two years fighting a racketeering charge, marking the longest trial in Georgia history.
Iggy Pop
We can report that when Iggy Pop ran onto stage in the Mojave Tent on Sunday he was wearing a vest. Which three seconds later was on the ground.
At 78, the godfather of punk is comfortable in his own skin, a seemingly invincible force of nature, the full-sized black coffin on stage with his band notwithstanding.
His set was a terrific collection of songs across nearly six decades in music. “T.V. Eye” and “Raw Power,” early songs recorded with the Stooges, kicked off his night. “The Passenger” and “Lust For Life,” solo tracks from the mid-’70s anchored the middle of the show.
The band, which included Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ guitarist Nick Zinner and a full horn section, roared behind Iggy on tracks including “Search and Destroy” and “Down in the Street.” When “1970” neared its finish in a cacophonous storm of notes and noise, Iggy shouted, “Apocalypse, apocalypse!” and the storm raged louder.
As Iggy finished his vocals on “Funtime,” the lid of the coffin opened and he stepped inside the red velvet interior, crossing his arms over his chest as it closed. Then as a roadie started to wheel it across the stage, Iggy’s hand popped out for a final wave and the band played on.
Laufey
Before Karol G performed her headlining set, most of the crowd seemed to be gathered around Laufey for her show at the Outdoor Theatre. The Icelandic musician gave an elegant performance, wearing a white, flowy dress similar to that of some of her backup dancers, who ascended and descended a spiral staircase as they performed.
Her band, which rocked string instruments, wore tuxes to give it that extra touch of class that makes Laufey who she truly is.
The first act of her set included “Lover Girl” and was followed by other great tracks, including “Bored” and “Too Little, Too Late,” which moved some fans in the audience to tears. The second act was heavier on the jazz and featured versions of “Valentine” and “Fragile.” Laufey also debuted “Madwoman” live for the first time, stopped to reflect, telling the crowd that she never imagined her classically trained music would resonate enough to be included at Coachella. But there she was, and boy was the festival crowd receptive.
Foster the People
Foster the People transformed the Outdoor Theatre into something more cinematic, opening their set with a striking visual of frontman Mark Foster stepping through what looked like the front door of a house, a motif that carried throughout the performance. The stage design leaned fully into that concept, creating a lived-in, almost surreal backdrop as the band worked through a set that heavily favored their early catalog. Tracks like “Helena Beat,” “Houdini” and “Call It What You Want” arrived early, instantly locking in a crowd that stretched far beyond the immediate stage area.
As the set progressed, newer cuts like “Lost in Space” and “Sit Next to Me” blended seamlessly with fan favorites, but it was clear the nostalgia factor hit hardest. By the time they closed with “Pumped Up Kicks,” the singalong extended all the way to the back, with fans near the main stage shouting every word in unison. It was one of those rare festival moments where distance didn’t matter, the entire field felt connected.
Los Retros
The Sonora tent was packed wall to wall by the time Los Retros took the stage, a testament to the growing pull of the indie artist’s dreamy, lo-fi sound that blends bedroom pop, soul and psychedelia.
“I’m on a tight schedule, so I have to play as quickly as possible, but I just want to say how grateful I am to be here. This is wild,” he told the crowd, moving briskly through a set that balanced new material with fan favorites.
Fresh off the release of his new record “Odisea,” the set carried a personal, intimate tone, especially during “Secret Admirer,” which he dedicated to his wife, sharing that it was written about her before they were together. Even with the quick pacing, the energy inside the tent never dimmed.
BigBang
BigBang was a global K-pop sensation a decade or more before groups such as BTS and Blackpink even existed. And given the K-pop group hadn’t played a show in the U.S. since 2016, it was a very big deal for fans when they were booked for Coachella this year.
The field in front of the Outdoor was packed long before G-Dragon, Taeyang, and Daesung took the stage on Sunday, holding cameras aloft to catch their first steps on stage and waving Bang Bongs, as the light sticks carried by the fandom known as VIPS is known.
“Bang Bang Bang” and “Fantastic Baby” opened the performance to cheers and screams and fans singing along, welcoming back their old-school K-pop heroes to the U.S.
Anyma
As Sunday headliner Karol G entertained fans on the main stage, electronic musician Anyma joined fellow DJ-producer Marlon Hoffstadt on the Do Lab stage. His world premiere of a new musical show was supposed to play the main stage after Sabrina Carpenter on Friday but was canceled due to high winds.
The Do LaB offered him a chance to at least play during the music and fans crowded around the Do LaB to hear him play and dance beneath the lasers and strobes and flutter flags overhead. Blackpink’s Lisa, who collaborated with Anyma on the brand-new single “Bad Angel,” also dropped by the DJ booth to lend support to her friend’s set.
Drain
Perhaps one of the most energetic shows on the last day of the festival was from thrash crossover and hardcore band Drain out of Santa Cruz. The group was non-stop energy from start to finish, performing heavy hits such as “Feel the Pressure,” “Who’s Having Fun?” and several others that got fans two-stepping and moshing in the center of the Sonora tent. However, that wasn’t enough to keep the group satisfied, prompting even more calls for larger mosh pits, culminating in a massive wall of death. The group performed a cover of Descendents’ “Good Good Things” and wrapped the set with “California Cursed,” prompting fans to jump onstage with the band and dance until they disappeared into the crowd.
Clipse
Among this year’s hip-hop acts at this year’s festival was the Virginia-based brother duo Clipse, consisting of Gene “Malice” and Terrence “Pusha T” Thornton. Rather than playing some of their backing tracks and rapping over their music, Clipse opted instead to invite Travis Barker for the first four songs, which included “Popular Demand (Popeyes)” and “Inglorious Bastards.”
One of the most chilling parts of the set was near the end when they performed “The Birds Don’t Sing,” a song about the death of their parents and having to live without them. The song’s lyrics, paired with images of their late parents, were goosebump-inducing, emotionally vulnerable and visceral, and served as a reminder at the special bond the brother duo share and weave through in their music.
Wet Leg
The lead singer-guitarist, Rhian Teasdale, of the British indie band took the main stage on the last day of the festival for an evening set where she flexed her muscles and delivered one of the more rock-and-roll performances of the weekend.
The band’s indie rock sound blends soft melodies with harsh guitar riffs that pair well with her punky vocals. Fans danced and screamed back some of the group’s lyrics for songs such as “Too Late Now,” “pond song,” and “Pillow Talk.” Wet Leg also welcomed Chicago-based rock outfit Horsegirl as a surprise guest for a performance of “CPR.”