Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar reportedly decline Coachella 2025 headline slots
The California festival is still reportedly looking for acts to headline next year’s instalment
by Liberty Dunworth · NMEBoth Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar have reportedly turned down the offer to headline Coachella 2025.
The reports were first shared by Bloomberg, which published an article about the current state of the Indio music festival and its plans for next year’s instalment.
According to the outlet, Paul Tollett – CEO of concert production company Goldenvoice, and co-founder of the festival – has been on the hunt for 2025 headliners since this year’s edition wrapped up in April.
The search also comes as the festival has endured some hardships in recent years, including closing down during the pandemic, and then failing to sell out tickets over the past two years.
In January, it was revealed that Coachella had seen its slowest ticket sales in 10 years for the 2024 edition.
As reported by Bloomberg, Tollett has been looking to book some A-list names for next year to ensure that the lower sales figures don’t continue into 2025, but has so far not locked in the headliners.
He reportedly wanted Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna for next year’s festival – two names guaranteed to draw in sales.
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Lamar has not only gone from strength to strength on the Coachella stage (having performed back in 2012 and 2017), he has also been one of the biggest names in music this year, namely for his highly-publicised beef with Drake.
Rihanna continues to be one of the most successful pop stars of recent decades, and has got fans eagerly waiting for her upcoming ninth record. Dubbed ‘R9’, very few details about the record have been shared, and it’ll mark her first release since 2016 album ‘Anti’.
However, according to multiple sources speaking to the outlet, both turned down the offer to headline Coachella 2025.
While no official reasons have been given for the decline, it is likely that Lamar wouldn’t be considering festival appearances as he already has a huge list of plans for next year. Last month, it was confirmed that Lamar would be headlining the 2025 NFL Super Bowl LIX Halftime show – which will be held at the Caesar Superdome in New Orleans on February 9. He is then speculated to be planning a tour of major stadiums later in the year.
As for Rihanna, the singer hasn’t embarked on a proper tour in years, and has turned her sights to her family and launching new business ventures in recent times.
Back in March, she played her first full show in eight years for a billionaire’s private wedding in India, and before then, she both headlined the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show and delivered a powerful performance of ‘Lift Me Up’ at the Oscars.
In December last year, the singer teased that a full comeback was on the horizon after she was reported to have signed a new deal with Live Nation. A full world tour was reported to be set for this year or 2025 but has yet to materialise.
With six months to go until Coachella 2025 kicks off, there have been no artists officially confirmed on the line-up, and it has been reported that organisers are still looking for headliners.
Coachella 2024 was headlined by Lana Del Rey, Tyler, The Creator and Doja Cat, and featured two special reunion sets from No Doubt. Other performers this year included Blur, Ice Spice, Grimes, Sabrina Carpenter, Peso Pluma, J Balvin, Khruangbin, Jhené Aiko, Lil Uzi Vert, Justice, Deftones, Sublime, Jungle, Dom Dolla, Bleachers, Peggy Gou, LE SSERAFIM and more.
The first weekend of Coachella was plagued by a myriad of sound issues, resulting in artists such as Lana Del Rey barely being audible, while Grimes faced a plethora of technical issues during her DJ set that left her screaming out in frustration.
While weekend two seemed to fare much better, Kid Cudi – who had been announced as a last-minute addition – had to end his set earlier than expected after breaking his foot.
In a recap of Coachella’s opening weekend for 2024, NME’s Rhian Daly noted the crowd’s general lack of energy. Daly wrote: “It would be easy to chalk this all up to excitement around Coachella dying down, but that wouldn’t strictly be true. There was plenty of energy in certain pockets of the festival, just perhaps not those soundtracked by middle-aged Britpop blokes.”
“Instead, it was the EDM sets that got the crowds the most electrified, while the quieter, more subtle artists like Lana Del Rey were met with scorn. After a year of slow ticket sales, it wouldn’t be surprising if 2025’s line-up features more dance music at the top of the bill.”