Coachella 2023: Frank Ocean taken off Weekend 2 lineup, Blink-182 rumored as replacement
Fans expecting to see Frank Ocean perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this weekend will be disappointed.
According to Variety, Ocean has pulled out of the festival due to an ankle injury. The news follows what several called a disappointing performance last weekend,Variety reported that pop-punk band Blink-182 will replace him as the Sunday headliner, which Goldenvoice has yet to announce on its go-to announcement platform: social media.
More: Coachella 2023: Frank Ocean forced to cut long-awaited set short due to curfew rules
The publication reportedly received the following statement from Goldenvoice, the festival promoter: “Frank Ocean will not be performing at weekend 2 of Coachella.
“After suffering an injury to his leg on festival grounds in the week leading up to weekend 1, Frank Ocean was unable to perform the intended show but was still intent on performing, and in 72 hours, the show was reworked out of necessity.
“On doctor’s advice, [Ocean] is not able to perform weekend 2 due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Ocean was still listed as performing Sunday on the Coachella app. A source close to the situation confirmed to The Desert Sun that Ocean is out, but did not confirm that Blink-182 will take his spot.
More: Coachella 2023: Blink-182 rocks the Sahara tent, warns of 'Dalai Lama kissing booth'
Blink-182 performed during Weekend 1 as a surprise act added to the lineup less than 48 hours before the festival. It was the first performance of the band's classic lineup featuring frontman Tom DeLonge in nine years.
On Monday, the festival's Twitter and Facebook pages were abuzz with photo highlights from Sunday featuring shots of Bj?rk, Willow, Jackson Wang and more, but nothing of Ocean. One of the tweets in the Sunday recap thread even referred to Wang, Latto and Jai Wolf as "closing the festival big" with special guests such as Ciara, with Ocean's name notably absent.
Several social media users jumped on the post to criticize Goldenvoice for the omission, while others used it as an opportunity to diss Ocean.
Ocean has a reputation for pulling out of tours and festivals in the past. He canceled scheduled appearances in 2017 at the FYF Festival in Los Angeles, Hangout Festival, Sasquatch! Festival and Primavera Festival.
This is the second consecutive year Goldenvoice has had to change a headliner. In 2022, Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, pulled out of the festival with less than two weeks to fill the headlining spot and was replaced with EDM titans Swedish House Mafia and R&B superstar The Weeknd.
Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @bblueskye.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella 2023: Frank Ocean will not perform Weekend 2
