Coachella is one of the biggest music festivals in the world, which draws crowds of more than 250,000 attendees over two weekends. However, before it became a massive moneymaker for artists and creators, it struggled to find its footing in the initial years. A product of the early 2000s, Coachella was promoted as the aspirational alternative to the disastrous Woodstock ’99 that became infamous for chaos and riots. Today, every major homegrown artist from America, as well as international stars, finds themselves on the Coachella stage, a career move that indicates success and also huge monetary rewards. Amid the recent wrap of 2026 Coachella, check out who the highest-paid artists are from the festival’s history.
Coachella 2026 turned out to be a nostalgia trip on many fronts, what with Justin Bieber headlining the festival, while singing some of his greatest hits. Deemed “Bieberchella” by his fans, the second weekend set of the singer even brought his biggest celebrity fan, Billie Eilish, to tears.
In addition to this, for millennials, this year’s fête also saw Madonna making a surprise appearance during Sabrina Carpenter’s set to belt out “Like a Prayer” and some other iconic hits. For K-pop fans, BLACKPINK’s Lisa, who delivered an electric solo performance last year, made a jaw-dropping entry as a special guest during Anyma’s set.
Given the way the festival unfolded, it comes as no surprise that the estimated ticket sales for the event seemingly exceeded USD 120 million this year. While the organisers certainly pulled off a successful festival, here’s everything you need to know about the performers and how big the payday has been for some of the major names in music, turning them into the highest-paid artists at Coachella.
These are the highest-paid artists at Coachella over the years
Justin Bieber
Ever since he stepped onto the music scene at the age of 13, Justin Bieber has been on a record-breaking spree. His career, from being a teen pop star to one of the best-selling artists in the world, has been commendable. His 2026 Coachella set was meant to be special for a variety of reasons, but mainly because it marked his biggest live concert in years, after he cancelled the Justice world tour in 2022 following health issues. Yet, he has somewhat been in his comeback era recently, considering he released Swag in July last year and earlier this year delivered a quite literal “stripped down” version of his songs at the 2026 Grammys, while playing the guitar in his boxers.
While his Coachella set hasn’t been without controversy, with some netizens calling out the singer’s low-effort gig, where he included a segment singing along with old YouTube videos of himself, the singer’s massive payday for the live performance has been a bigger subject of discussion. According to reports, Bieber has become the highest-paid artist in Coachella history, drawing USD 10 million for the gig.
Tyler, the Creator
The only other artist who is known to have seemingly admitted to earning a whopping “eight-figure” sum for their performance at Coachella has been Tyler, the Creator. In the famous line that drops in his “That Guy” song, Tyler sings, “What that Coachella pay like? It was eight figures.” After he performed at the coveted music festival in 2024, multiple reports claimed that the rapper was paid an astonishing USD 10 million.
In his memorable set as the headliner, Tyler invited surprise guests like A$AP Rocky, Childish Gambino, and Kali Uchis. His powerful set also touched upon his rise to fame, highlighting his evolution from a 2011 performer to the main attraction at the festival.
The Weeknd
After playing at the Valley music festival twice before booking the headliner slot, The Weeknd, unleashed his pop star persona on the main stage in 2018. With a power-packed set list of 20-plus tracks, he ended his performance with the chart-topping 2015 single “The Hills”, and it was nothing short of a spectacle as his intense vocals were accompanied by pyrotechnics.
According to reports, The Weeknd took home a whopping USD 8.5 million to perform at the festival. Nearly seven years since his headliner gig at the festival, the singer still remains one of the top names in the industry and reportedly is also among the world’s highest-earning musicians, having earned a striking USD 298 million in 2025.
Ariana Grande
In 2019, Ariana Grande made the headlines for raking in USD 8 million from her Coachella set. Becoming the festival’s youngest ever headliner at the time, the singer landed upon the opportunity after a dramatic exit from Kanye West, who pulled out of the festival due to production disagreements. Impressively, Grande not only replaced the rapper but also pocketed a much higher fee compared to the rest for her iconic gig.
During her first weekend set, then 25-year-old singer brought out P. Diddy, a reunited NSYNC, and also rapper Nicki Minaj onto the stage for duets. However, it was her second-weekend surprise that is still the much-talked-about element of her set, as the singer invited Justin Bieber to join her on stage, marking his first-ever Coachella appearance. The memorable evening saw the duo performing his major hit, “Sorry” on stage.
Beyoncé
While Beyoncé may have received a lesser Coachella fee than Justin Bieber, she certainly knew how to maximise her earnings further – and did so with her Netflix documentary, Homecoming. While reports suggest that Queen Bey made USD 4 million for each weekend, she successfully turned her USD 8 million Coachella gig into a USD 60 million-worth opportunity with a three-project deal with Netflix, capturing her historic journey of becoming the first African-American woman to headline Coachella.
Beyoncé’s Coachella performance is etched in the festival’s history for being one of the greatest live performances featuring a marching band, over 100 dancers, and guest appearances from Destiny’s Child, Jay-Z, and Solange.
Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny made history in 2023 as he became the first Spanish-language artist to headline the festival’s main stage, and nearly three years later, the rapper has added more such milestones to his career, including his memorable Super Bowl halftime show this year. Back in 2023, the Puerto Rican hitmaker put on an electric two-hour show to a roaring crowd while bringing out special guests such as Jhayco, Jowell & Randy and Ñengo Flow, plus Post Malone. This passionate set also earned him a grand payday, which is reportedly estimated to be between USD 5 and 8 million, making him one of the highest-paid artists in Coachella history.
Lady Gaga
There are performers, and then there’s Lady Gaga. It’s hard to shake the image of Lady Gaga’s 2025 Coachella headlining set, simply because of its theatrical brilliance. In a set that would give her fans a fine taste of the spectrum of her entire career, Gaga’s performance was divided into four thematic acts featuring dramatic, gothic-themed costumes. Apart from belting out tracks from her new album Mayhem, the singer also revisited some of her biggest hits, such as “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance.” Covering 22 songs from her dance pop catalogue, Gaga commanded the Coachella stage and was deservedly paid an estimated USD 4 to USD 8 million for it.
Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter opened Coachella 2026 as the headliner and turned the main stage into “Sabrinawood”, bringing an old Hollywood theme to the festival. The singer put her flashy pop resume on display both visually and vocally as she performed her biggest hits from the past years, including “Espresso” and newer songs like “When Did You Get Hot?”
With a host of guest stars joining her on stage, including notable actors like Susan Sarandon and Will Ferrell, to Madonna, the singer gave the Coachella crowd multiple moments to gasp and scream throughout. While there is no official confirmation on the exact amount, Carpenter reportedly pulled in USD 5 million for her power-packed set at the festival.
Prince
Despite being a last-minute addition to the lineup on the festival’s second weekend, pop icon Prince headlined Coachella in 2008. Reportedly, the legendary musician was brought on by the organisers after struggling to sell out for the first time in years. Often considered to be a landmark moment in the festival’s history, it was his first and only appearance at Coachella before his death in 2016.
During the iconic performance, Prince covered Radiohead’s “Creep”, Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel,” Santana’s “Soul Sacrifice,” and The B-52’s “Rock Lobster”. As per speculations, he was paid a whopping USD 4.8 million to take the main stage at the time.
Kendrick Lamar
Long before Kendrick Lamar dissed Drake with Grammy-winning song, “Not Like Us”, the rapper headlined Coachella music festival in 2017. The remarkable hour-long set saw Lamar performing multiple tracks from his then-freshly released album, Damn. As the main stage transformed into several stunning displays, Lamar kept the crowd fired up performing a live rendition of “ELEMENT” and at one point was even suspended in the air on-stage in a martial arts-esque stance.
With guest appearances by ScHoolboy Q, Future and Travis Scott throughout his show, Lamar turned Coachella into one of the most memorable hip-hop nights and was paid handsomely for it. According to The New Yorker, he earned between USD 3 and 4 for the performance.
Paul McCartney
In 2009, Paul McCartney took to the stage at the festival and reminded everyone what it means to be a timeless rock star. With his Beatles days long behind him and solo projects on the rise, McCartney’s two-hour set was a celebration of his widespread musical catalogue, which included several tracks originally written as duets with his Beatles co-writer John Lennon, such as “I’ve Got A Feeling” and “A Day In The Life”.
Considered to be one of the most legendary musical performances in Coachella history, it was also one of the highest-paid acts at the time with McCartney reportedly earning USD 4 million.
(Hero and featured images: Courtesy Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
This story first appeared here.
Note : The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.