According to a new report by Billboard, Coachella organizers were just as surprised by all the rest of us by the news of Beyoncé’s pregnancy with twins, and it sent them scrambling. In fact, they didn’t know until after her stunning performance at the Grammy’s last month whether or not she was going to make it out to the Empire Polo Fields in April.
Jay Marciano, the Chairman of AEG Live, the company that owns and runs Coachella, personally attended the Grammy’s along with a number of other executives to see whether or not Beyoncé might be physically capable of performing at the festival. “Marciano keenly watched the gravity-defying performance of ‘Love Drought’ and ‘Sandcastles,’ the singer’s chair stunt offering a glimmer of hope that a festival appearance still might be possible,” Billboard noted.
It was only after Beyoncé cancelled a 90-room block of hotel reservations that AEG learned, definitively, that they were going to have to look elsewhere for a headliner. A call came from the singer’s people came shortly afterwards confirming the unfortunate news.
On a positive note, Coachella was able to land Lady Gaga to replace Beyoncé who will almost undoubtably put on an incredible performance. According to sources who spoke to Billboard, it was important for the organizers to have another woman take over the vacant spot. It’s been a full decade since the last time a woman headlined Coachella. Bjork carries that distinction having played the festival back in 2007.
