Billie Eilish just became Coachella’s new “Queen B!” The 20-year-old Bad Guy singer rocked the festival in Indio, California, on April 16, following up a surprise appearance by her own personal idol Justin Bieber and joking about the festival’s years-long obsession with Beyonce!
“Thank you, Coachella! I’m sorry I’m not Beyoncé,” Eilish, 20, joked to the massive crowd. “I love you, goodnight,” she said at the end of her festival-defining set. And that’s not all she had to say — Billie also joked that she “should not be headlining this s***,” and said that she was “so f***king grateful” to perform on the legendary stage.
Rocking ponytails, shorts, her signature low-key oversize shirt, and knee pads, Billie performed alongside surprise guests Damon Alborn and Khalid. “This is such a dream come true,” she told the crowd. “I feel crazy.” The Oscar winning singer also laid out 3 “rules” for the night, which included “just having fun, bitch!” as well as avoiding being “an a–hole” and not “judging others” — all of which line up with Billie’s vibe perfectly.
The singer does indeed have illustrious shoes to fill, and her nod to Beyonce was no mistake — Beyonce’s performances at Coachella are so legendary that the festival was dubbed “BeyChella” in April 2018. Beyonce made her own history at the time, becoming the first Black woman to headline the festival. Appearing with a now-legendary marching band in one of the event’s most memorable headline shows in recent history, Bey’s set became the Coachella performance to emulate. Beyonce had been set to perform in 2017, but postponed due to her pregnancy, so her performance in 2018 was even more anticipated. Bey’s 2018 Coachella performance is so iconic that she produced an entire documentary film called Homecoming about the leadup to the show.
So Billie’s comments about the legendary siren are understandable. But her own performance was legendary all on its own, and she acknowledged how surreal the experience was for her. Billie was the second headliner of the festival, following Harry Styles‘ epic performance alongside Shania Twain and preceding The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia on April 17. “This is the craziest s*** I’ve ever experienced,” she said ahead of singing Feel Good Inc. alongside Alborn. “[Damon] changed my life in a lot of ways, and changed my view of what music and art and creation could be.”