Justin Bieber made a nostalgia-fuelled return to the major stage as Coachella’s much-anticipated headline act.
The 32-year-old spent much of Saturday night’s gig sitting in front of a laptop and singing to YouTube music videos of his older hits, such as Baby and Never say Never – delighting the crowd in an apparent tribute to the platform on which he was discovered.
He also played some of the home videos that had brought him to the industry’s attention aged 12, pulling them up on the big screen, and appeared to interact with the live comments on the YouTube stream of his set.
It marked the star’s biggest live show in four years, having cancelled his Justice world tour following health issues.
He opened the gig alone on an otherwise empty stage, performing tracks from his 2025 albums Swag and Swag II – before telling the crowd he wanted to take them “on a journey” and reaching back into his archive.
He repeatedly asked the audience: “How far back do you go?”
Bieber also played the clip for which he most recently went viral – and which prompted speculation about his mental state – in which he confronted a photographer and said: “It’s not clocking to you, I’m standing on business.”
Dressed in a hoodie and shorts on a stripped-back stage, Bieber was joined by musical guests including The Kid Laroi, Wizkid, Tems and Dijon.
The star’s wife Hailey Bieber was spotted in the crowd, alongside celebrity couple Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner.
Bieber cancelled his world tour after revealing he was suffering from facial paralysis, after being diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome – a complication from contracting shingles – in 2022.
He released his surprise album Swag in July 2025, and in February performed live at the Grammy Awards.
His Coachella set marked a starker departure from the previous night’s headline act, Sabrina Carpenter, whose Hollywood-themed gig included costume changes, choreography and elaborate stage design.
Colombian pop star Karol G will be Sunday’s headliner at the festival, which takes place over two weekends in the California desert.
It draws more than 100,000 people daily, according to police from the city of Indio, and has been running at Indio’s Empire Polo Club since 2002.
