Prince to headline Coachella music fest
INDIO, Calif.—Purple rain was to fall in the desert Saturday night when Prince was scheduled to play his much-anticipated headlining performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Prince's concert, the centerpiece of the festival, was announced only two weeks ago, adding a high dosage of star power to the ninth annual Southern California music festival. The Purple One was easily the most in-demand act to see among the 125-plus bands playing over the weekend.
Paul Tollett, the founder of Coachella and head of concert promoter Goldenvoice, declined to say how much Prince's payday for the performance was but said a figure of $4.8 million that had been reported was incorrect.
Tollett had pursued Prince since the festival's first edition in 1999. Prince has rarely performed festivals in his career, and Coachella -- the unofficial start to the summer's festival season -- promised to be his most high-profile gig since playing the Super Bowl last year.
Prince was scheduled to take the main stage shortly before 11 p.m. PDT, after performances by Death Cab for Cutie, Kraftwerk and the newly reunited Portishead. Friday night's shows were headlined by surfer singer-songwriter Jack Johnson. Sunday night's festivities are to be headlined by Roger Waters.
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