Lady Gaga replaces Beyonce on Coachella

Last week, Beyonce dropped off Coachella due to being pregnant with twins, and now Billboard reports that her replacement will be Lady Gaga. “Officials with festival organizers Goldenvoice and AEG Live are finalizing plans to bring Gaga’s huge stage production to Coachella and will make the announcement in the coming days,” sources tell Billboard. UPDATE: Coachella has confirmed! New poster:

Insiders also tell Billboard that it was important to Coachella organizers for a woman to replace Beyonce as headliner (Beyonce would have been Coachella’s second female headliner ever, after Bjork). This also keeps with the trend of Coachella finally booking a true pop star to headline (though maybe not as perfect a pop star).

Gaga will be playing day two of the fest (April 15 and 22), the day with Bon Iver, Future, Schoolboy Q, Mitski, Car Seat Headrest, and more.

Earlier today, rumors started that Daft Punk would be Beyonce’s replacement. That rumor followed betting company Betfair saying Daft Punk had 3/1 odds of being Beyonce’s replacement (Gaga had 7/1 odds, they said).

Though Beyonce had to cancel this year, she is already set to headline the festival in 2018.

—

Both Bey and Gaga recently performed at the Grammys (a week after Gaga played the Super Bowl). Gaga’s Grammys performance was with Metallica, whose Lars Ulrich said the collaboration was “too real” to not continue.

Lady Gaga was in an ad that aired during the Oscars this past weekend, and Beyonce made an appearance at the Weinstein Company Pre-Oscars party.

Lady Gaga also has several tour dates coming up, including two shows at NYC’s Citi Field (where Beyonce played two shows last year).