Sabrina Carpenter has headlined the first weekend of Coachella 2026, tapping into the spirit of Old Hollywood with a star-studded set.
- READ MORE: Sabrina Carpenter live in London: A testament to playing the long game to pop superstardom
Last night (April 10), the pop star topped the bill at this year’s edition of the Californian festival, taking to the main stage after previously promising to return as its headliner in a ‘Nonsense’ outro from her 2024 performance.
Before she stepped foot on stage, she opened the set with a black-and-white video intro that followed her as she sped through the desert before being stopped by a police officer played by Landman actor Sam Elliott.
Arriving on the festival grounds in a vintage car, she walked along a Walk of Fame-inspired catwalk to a set featuring the rocky structures of the Hollywood Hills, later invoking Some Like It Hot and Dirty Dancing after erecting a huge “Sabrinawood” sign.
She kicked things off with ‘House Tour’ – which recently received its own music video starring Carpenter, Madelyn Cline, and Margaret Qualley – then ‘Taste’ and ‘Busy Woman’. Later, dancers dressed as poodles appeared and were gleefully walked around the set for ‘Manchild’.
In keeping up with the Hollywood vibe, Susan Sarandon delivered a reflective monologue about show business in a vehicle while Carpenter briefly stepped off stage before launching into ‘Go Go Juice’.
Will Ferrell also made a guest appearance, playing a disgruntled electrician who was called to fix a stage lighting outage, while Carpenter’s Girl Meets World co-star Corey Fogelmanis played a waiter, and the voice of Samuel L. Jackson as a “spiritual guide” rang out.
That’s all for @SabrinaAnnLynn’s performance at coachella this week !Thank you and goodnight ! #Sabchella pic.twitter.com/CwwRds0RO1
— SabrinaUpdates (@charts_sabrina) April 11, 2026
Samuel L. Jackson has made a voice cameo during Sabrina Carpenter’s Coachella set.
“Finish the motherfucking song” pic.twitter.com/ltsDOQWOrV
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 11, 2026
Sabrina Carpenter performs ‘Manchild’ at Coachella with men dressed as dogs. pic.twitter.com/qTsZVzUjGY
— Pop Base (@PopBase) April 11, 2026
lo siento pero sabrina carpenter nos acaba de dar la MEJOR presentación del pop en un coachella nunca antes visto pic.twitter.com/hFjG23We3q
— ؘjuandi (@poxelse) April 11, 2026
SABRINA GOT SUSAN SURANDON OH SHE DEFINITELY MADE IT #sabchella pic.twitter.com/FKPpGZ4Bop
— noelle 🇵🇸🐾❤️🔥 (@noellewes123) April 11, 2026
Sabrina Carpenter at Coachella 2026 played:
‘House Tour’
‘Taste’
‘Busy Woman’
‘Manchild’
‘When Did You Get Hot?’
‘Please Please Please’
‘We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night’
‘Nobody’s Son’
‘because i liked a boy’
‘Man on Willpower’
‘Go Go Juice’
‘Such A Funny Way’
Sugar Talking’
‘Don’t Smile’
‘Feather’
‘Bed Chem’
‘Juno’
‘Espresso’
‘Goodbye’
‘Tears’
she ate with the setlist, production, vocals, set design, cameos, dancers, visuals, and sabcharm #SABCHELLA pic.twitter.com/bAhppMqXmw
— SabrinaUpdates (@charts_sabrina) April 11, 2026
.@SabrinaAnnLynn sampled “In My House” by Mary Jane Girls during the outro of her performance of“House Tour”
— SabrinaUpdates (@charts_sabrina) April 11, 2026
.@SabrinaAnnLynn Performing “Tears” at coachella tonight as the final song on her setlist ! #Sabchella pic.twitter.com/6Nz1aEkkvI
— SabrinaUpdates (@charts_sabrina) April 11, 2026
Having promised fans her “most ambitious show” yet, the standout visuals of the second half of the set included a moment she invited the the crowd to light up their flashlights and illuminate the stage, as well as appearing elevated above the crowd as water rained down.
You can check out the set times for Coachella weekend one here, along with details on how to watch the festival online.
In other news, Jack White has been confirmed for Coachella 2026 weekend one as a last-minute addition, while Lambrini Girls appear to have been dropped from the line-up. Elsewhere, headliner Karol G has said that she has been warned not to say “ICE out”, as doing so could lead to her losing her visa.
Other acts on the bill at Coachella this year include The xx, The Strokes, Nine Inch Noize (Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize), Disclosure, Turnstile, Geese, Ethel Cain, KATSEYE, Addison Rae, Labrinth, David Byrne, Interpol, Alex G, BIGBANG, Laufey, Iggy Pop, FKA Twigs and Wet Leg.
NME last caught Carpenter live when she headlined BST Hyde Park in London last summer. The glowing five-star review read: “[‘Espresso’ has] catapulted the singer from an artist orbiting the pop girl league tables to one of its reigning champs, but her command of this space is a testament to the years of graft it took to get there. All she needed was time.”
Sabrina Carpenter performed ‘Manchild’ live at the Grammys in February. She was nominated for six awards at this year’s ceremony, but did not take home any prizes on the night.
