Frank Ocean Headlines Coachella, Fans Disappointed

Over six years since his last live performance, singer Frank Ocean closed out the first weekend of Coachella as a headliner, but the highly anticipated show disappointed many fans. 

Fans were already on edge when YouTube announced that the rare performance would not be streamed despite earlier announcements that it would. 

“Frank Ocean @coachella and @YouTube y’all better count your fucking days,” a disgruntled fan warned. 

The 35-year-old appeared onstage at the Indio, California, music festival nearly an hour late, so his scheduled two-hour performance ended abruptly due to curfew restrictions, further frustrating fans.

Ocean’s performance comes three years after he was first billed to headline Coachella in 2020. The show was delayed as the pandemic claimed millions of lives and halted the event industry; Coachella didn’t return until 2022, when Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, and Swedish House Mafia x the Weeknd headlined. 2020 also marked the year Ocean lost his 18-year-old brother, Ryan Breaux, who died in a car crash.

On Sunday, the reluctant superstar paused the show to acknowledge his late sibling in a moving moment with the audience, telling them that his life had “changed so much.”

“My brother and I came to this festival a lot,” he said as he recalled his memories of braving the desert with his brother’s encouragement to see Rae Sremmurd. 

“I know he would have been so excited to be here with all of us. I want to say thank you for the support and the years, and the love all this time. Now I’ll get back to the songs.”