The first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festivals is officially underway in Indio, California. In addition to being the location to where half of L.A. empties out into for two weeks, it’s also a major draw for eyeballs within the music industry. A significant spot on the lineup, especially in the headliner position, can solidify current standing in the business and potentially help with Grammy campaigns later this fall.
With the 2027 Grammy Awards in mind, who stands to gain a lot from successful performances this weekend and next? Three names come to mind.
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Justin Bieber
The former boy wonder of pop music made a soulful return to R&B, more in line with his 2013 release Journals, with the two-album Swag series. The first installment earned four nominations, including Album of the Year, and this year, Swag II is up for consideration. Bieber’s stripped-down performance at the Grammys matched the bare-naked confessionals of Swag and signaled a desire to be taken more seriously as an artist and musician.
As the headliner of Coachella’s two Saturdays, Bieber is in prime position to deliver on that message in a big way. Swag II may not have received write-ups as positive as those for Swag, but the continued evolution of him as a performer could help him to be more favorably considered by the Recording Academy.
Sabrina Carpenter
Friday night’s headliner is no stranger to the Grammys. Since her breakthrough with her sixth album, Short n’ Sweet, Sabrina Carpenter has earned 12 nominations, including two nominations for Album, Record, and Song of the Year each and a Best New Artist nomination last year. And yet, despite the ubiquity of Espresso, Carpenter has only managed to convert two of those nominations into wins, both in 2025. She blanked this year, in the months following heated discourse around the cover of her album Man’s Best Friend.
Carpenter will once again be competing for Grammys off of individual tracks from Man’s Best Friend, and it remains to be seen whether she can bring the Academy over to her side, along with the scores of her passionate fans. Her Grammys performance earlier this year showed off Carpenter’s presence and penchant for stage craft. Coachella could be another opportunity.
PinkPantheress
As an example of the TikTok-to-music-industry-legitimacy pipeline, “Illegal” singer Pink Pantheress is already a success, but her viral hits have largely been born of out intimate bedroom production skills, not stagecraft. But with two Coachella sets and another smash with Zara Larsson on “Stateside” (which is already charting in Gold Derby’s predictions), the British singer-songwriter has a chance to prove that she is a star outside of your phone.
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