From Chappell Roan to Selena Gomez, here’s who could appear

Every year around Coachella time, we try to remind ourselves to stop daydreaming about what special guests could pop up on stage and focus on getting excited about all the great artists who are actually, you know, scheduled to perform. And yet every year we fail.

Because let’s be real, whether it was Madonna kissing Drake in 2015, Harry Styles singing “Man, I Feel Like A Woman” in 2022 with Shania Twain or nearly everyone and their mother (including, for some reason, Will Smith in full Men in Black garb) showing up last year, the allure of the possibility of A-listers showing up to create an only-at-Coachella moment is just too darn strong.

So, since we’re thinking about it anyway (and will surely continue to be), we figured we’d once again share our best guesses for who could be the guests we’ll all be talking about at the end of this year’s fest, which will run April 11-13 and 18-20 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.

One word of caution before we go any further, though: Don’t expect any speculation from us that the Future Mrs. Travis Kelce will show up to sing “Fortnight” with Post Malone. We’ve been down that road before and we simply refuse to get hurt again.

Chappell Roan performs at the Gobi tent during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Friday, April 12, 2024, at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif.

Chappell Roan

The Midwest Princess herself was arguably the breakout star of Coachella 2024, and she deserves to come back and perform on a much bigger stage than the Gobi tent’s. So … why not the Coachella Stage with Lady Gaga? I know, it sounds too good to be true, but Roan just cited Gaga as one of her biggest influences on her January episode of Hulu’s “Faces of Music” docuseries, and I feel like bringing her out for one of Gaga’s older classics would be Coachella gold. This type of special guest appearance would be very reminiscent of Roan’s buddy Olivia Rodrigo coming out to sing with No Doubt last year, and I think that idea of an established, iconic artist bringing out a much younger and recently successful artist who they’ve influenced is the kind of warm and fuzzy feeling we all deserve right now. Also … can we please just take a minute to imagine Gaga and Roan exploring their mutually complicated relationships with fame during a rendition of truly any song off “The Fame Monster”? A girl can dream. — Niki Kottmann

Drake

Drake is currently embroiled in a nasty and contentious feud with Kendrick Lamar that was front and center in Lamar’s Super Bowl 59 halftime show performance, but he’s showing no signs of retreat and it’s possible we could see him appear with Travis Scott on the 2023 song “Meltdown,” which Scott has been including in recent setlists. The Canadian rapper headlined the festival a decade ago, which some look back on as the festival’s worst headlining performance, so appearing with Scott during a highly anticipated set might boost Drake’s profile and association with the festival. — Brian Blueskye

Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish makes a surprise appearance on the Do Lab stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif.

Charli XCX has made her 2024 album “brat” a noun, verb and lifestyle. If you haven’t been paying attention to its impact, you’re missing out on the fun. Charli has also released several singles over the past year, once of which was “Guess” featuring Billie Eilish. If there’s anyone who could make Charli XCX’s “bratchella” memorable with a guest appearance, look no further than Eilish, who has been appearing consistently at the festival as a performer or special guest since 2019. Considering Charli’s place on the lineup and Eilish’s prominence, this one will be a highlight if it happens. — Brian Blueskye

Lorde

Name you know: Lorde Birth name: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor

If Charli XCX doesn’t bring out Billie, perhaps the other best guess is the singer who she broke the internet with, as their song predicted, last summer: Lorde. The hit “Girl, So Confusing” immediately generated buzz when Charli’s “Brat” album dropped in early June, mostly (other than the fact that it’s a great song) because everyone wanted to know which celebrity the song was about. Several online commentators got it right when they suspected Lorde, and the on-again, off-again friends confirmed it when they dropped a remix of the song that included Lorde singing a new verse to tell her side of the story. Honestly, if these two don’t “work it out on the remix” live in front of us, I will be bummed, but Charli’s remix album is stacked with other amazing collaborators who would also make phenomenal special guests, from Sweat Tour partner Troye Sivan (though he was her surprise guest during her last Coachella performance, so that’s perhaps less likely) to the Good Witch of pop, Ariana Grande. — Niki Kottmann

Bruno Mars

(L-R) Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars perform onstage during the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 2, 2025 in Los Angeles.

It’s obvious that Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ collaboration “Die With A Smile” from Gaga’s “Mayhem” is a hit. It even won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance back in February, and they performed it together at said award show in Las Vegas. Bruno Mars doesn’t have any tour dates listed on his website until May 21, so why wouldn’t he appear during her headlining set to sing the song at Coachella? We really hope we’re right on this one. — Brian Blueskye

Flo Milli

Flo Milli performs at the Sahara tent during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., Saturday, April 22, 2023.

Which guests featured on Megan Thee Stallion’s 2024 album “Megan: Act II” could appear during her Coachella set? Hmm. RM from BTS? Nope, still in the South Korean military until June. Spiritbox? Perhaps. GloRilla? Much more likely because she’s also scheduled to perform her own set at the festival. But I think a safe bet will be Flo Milli for the single “Roc Steady,” which is a highlight of the album and the cheerleading theme featured in the music video could make for a great live performance. — Brian Blueskye

Doja Cat and Raye

Lisa has hit the Coachella Stage in the past with her Blackpink gal pals, but this year she’ll shine all on her own — that is, unless she brings a special guest. She could, of course, bring out bandmate Jennie, who is also performing as a solo act for Coachella, but we think the new “The White Lotus” star will push things even further and invite two recent collaborators. One of her most recent hits, “Born Again,” features Coachella alumni Doja Cat and Raye, and it’s been dominating the charts ever since its release (it has more than 122 million streams on Spotify alone!). These three hit the Oscars stage for a flashy tribute to the James Bond franchise, and we can only hope that they’ll team up again for another iconic Coachella moment. — Ema Sasic

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez is photographed on the red carpet during the Palm Springs International Film Awards in Palm Springs, Calif., Jan. 3, 2025.

I’ve hoped for a surprise Selena Gomez appearance for the last few years and was wrong, but I’m feeling better about predicting it for this year. She just released her new album “I Said I Love You First” with fiancé Benny Blanco, and it features a dreamy-sounding collaboration in English and Spanish with The Marias, who are slated to perform on Friday. I’m a big fan of both artists, so this would be pretty huge not just for me, but for thousands of fans in the audience. — Ema Sasic

Jelly Roll

Jelly Roll performs on the Mane Stage during Stagecoach in Indio, Calif., on Friday, April 26, 2024.

After making an impression last year during his Mane Stage performance at Stagecoach, Jelly Roll is returning to the country festival, which takes place the weekend after Coachella ends, as a headliner. However, Post Malone is headlining Coachella on Sunday night and his 2024 album “F-1 Trillion” featured Jelly Roll on the song “Losers.” If there were to be a preview at Coachella for Stagecoach, Jelly Roll performing with Post Malone would be a solid choice. Also, who doesn’t love Jelly Roll? It seems like he fits in with any crowd. — Brian Blueskye

50 Cent

50 Cent performs on stage during the Jeddah World music Festival.

In 2002, Missy Elliott collaborated with 50 Cent on the hit single “Work It,” which Elliott has continued to perform during recent concerts. If there were a special guest to include among others during her performance at Coachella, it would be 50 Cent. However, it should be noted that the rapper made a guest appearance Sunday night of Coachella 2024 Weekend 2 during DJ Snake‘s set, so we might not get lighting striking in the same place twice (unless he pulls a Billie Eilish, of course). — Brian Blueskye

John Mayer

Dead & Company including John Mayer, at left, and Bob Weir, at right, perform at the Sphere on May 17, 2024.

Like most superstar DJs, Zedd has no shortage of famous collaborators. And if his last Coachella appearance back in 2019 that featured a surprise Katy Perry appearance is any indication, he will likely bring one of them out again this year. Singer Bea Miller would seem an obvious choice given she is on two songs from the album Zedd released last year. But we’re thinking he might choose to go bigger and bolder and have John Mayer join him to perform their vibey collab “Automatic Yes,” which is also on the new album. After all, Mayer previously dropped into Coachella to perform his “Outta My Head” collaboration with Khalid during his 2019 set. It would have to happen during Weekend 1 though, as Mayer is scheduled to be back at the Vegas sphere with Dead & Company during Weekend 2. But if Zedd wants a Weekend 2 collaborator, may we humbly suggest turning back the clock some and bringing out Maren Morris to perform their smash hit “The Middle” like it’s still 2018? We can’t imagine many Zedd fans would say no to that. — Paul Albani-Burgio

Teddy Swims

Teddy Swims performs onstage during the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 2, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.

In many ways, Benson Boone and Teddy Swims are kindred spirits. Both rode rich voices, distinctive fashion sensibilities and a high-power hit to the top of the charts in 2024. So while they don’t (yet) have any songs together, it doesn’t seem like too much of a leap to think that Boone might have Swims join him on stage to help him beef up his set. After all, from the looks of this widely circulated video of Swims applying oil to Boone’s chiseled abs, the two are definitely, uh, close. — Paul Albani-Burgio

When does Coachella release set times?

We know. Trust us, from both a professional and personal standpoint, we wish we could get our hands on those set times like, yesterday, but Goldenvoice typically doesn’t release set times until the day or two before the festival. They also like to keep us guessing in terms of timing, so don’t be surprised if the set times quietly drop late at night a couple days before, like they did in 2023 late on the Wednesday before opening day.

Coachella vs Stagecoach

Stagecoach country music festival organizers, however, have already released the set times for that fest, which will run April 25-27 on the same grounds as Coachella.

Click here to see Stagecoach set times.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella 2025: Guest predictions, from Selena Gomez to Chappell Roan