The 2018 festival featured headlining performances from The Weeknd , Beyoncé , and Eminem . Making up for her cancellation the previous year , Beyoncé became the first African-American woman to headline the festival . Her performances paid tribute to the culture of historically black colleges and universities , featuring a full marching band and majorette dancers , while incorporating various aspects of black Greek life , such as a step show along with strolling by pledges . The performances were also influenced by black feminism , sampling black authors and featuring on-stage appearances by fellow Destiny 's Child members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams as well as sister Solange Knowles . Beyoncé 's performances received immediate , widespread praise , and were described by many media outlets as historic . '' The New York Times '' music critic Jon Caramanica wrote , " There 's not likely to be a more meaningful , absorbing , forceful and radical performance by an American musician this year , or any year soon , than Beyoncé 's headlining set " . Her performance garnered 458,000 simultaneous viewers on YouTube to become the festival 's most viewed performance to date , and the entire festival had 41 million total viewers , making it the most livestreamed event ever
Her performances
Beyoncé 2018 Coachella performance
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival