Frank Ocean Nixes Coachella Weekend Two Headline Performance, blink-182 Filling In

Frank Ocean has reportedly dropped out as the Sunday headliner for the second weekend of Coachella, with blink-182 replacing him.

Ocean was reportedly suffering from an ankle injury, according to a report from Rolling Stone, which caused him to be unable to perform to his full vision during his April 16 set the first weekend, with production apparently scaled down. The artist did not take the stage until nearly an hour after his scheduled start time, which led to the show being cut short due to the festival’s midnight curfew. Rather than utilizing a catwalk and circular stage, Ocean performed while sitting on a stool and “periodically walked over to his backing band,” according to Pitchfork.

Fans at home hoping to catch Ocean’s set online expressed their frustration via social media when it was announced hours before that his performance would not be streamed on Coachella’s official YouTube channel.

“It was chaotic,” Ocean said in a statement via Variety. “There is some beauty in chaos. It isn’t what I intended to show but I enjoy being out there and I’ll see you soon.”

Sunday marked Ocean’s first live show since 2017. He had initially been slated to headline Coachella for the ill-fated edition in 2020 that was called off because of the pandemic, along with the 2021 edition.

A reunited blink-182 took the stage at Coachella’s Sahara Tent on April 14 for an hour-long set that was announced just a day before the festival kicked off. The performance was the first time bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge and drummer Travis Barker had played together in public since DeLonge departed blink in 2015. The band’s reunion tour was supposed to launch in South America in March but that leg of the tour was pushed back after Barker sustained an injury to his finger during rehearsals and had to undergo surgery. The trek is now set to kick off May 4 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The band went on hiatus in 2005 and then reunited in 2009 at the Grammy Awards, followed by a North America tour in 2009 and a run of European dates in 2010. After DeLonge departed the band in 2015, Hoppus and Barker continued touring with Alkaline Trio vocalist/guitarist Matt Skiba taking over for DeLonge. Highlights from the band’s 2019 North American tour include a Sept. 20 show at Brooklyn, New York’s Barclays Center that sold 14,231 ticket and grossed $855,645, according to box office reports submitted to Pollstar.

The 2022 edition of Coachella also saw a last-minute switch of plans for its headliners with Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd taking over for Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West.

Swedish House Mafia had previously been on the event’s lineup, with a separate line on the original poster proclaiming that the trio was “returning to the desert” after playing the 2012 fest. The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia are frequent collaborators, having released the single “Moth To A Flame” in 2021, and the Swedish producers lending their skills to the tracks “How Do I Make You Love Me?” and “Sacrifice” on The Weeknd’s 2022 acclaimed record, Dawn FM. The artists also share a manager, Wassim “Sal” Slaiby.

Ye did not provide a reason for dropping out of the festival, however, the rapper had stated earlier in the year that he would drop out of Coachella unless Billie Eilish, who headlined the festival both Saturdays, apologized to Travis Scott for a perceived slight. A Change.org petition had called for Ye’s removal following the rapper’s messages on social media directed towards his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and her then boyfriend, Pete Davidson.

Pollstar reached out to Goldenvoice for comment and has not yet heard back at the time of publishing.