Pharrell – 2014
2014 may as well have been deemed “The Year of Pharrell.” Granted, the mastermind songwriter and producer had been in the game forever, but his song “Happy” undoubtedly turned him into a world-renowned superstar. As such, it only made sense to book the country’s biggest artist for the country’s biggest festival, right?
Living up to the hype, Pharrell took Coachella by storm with a set that boasted a metric crap-ton of guests including Snoop Dogg, Nelly and Busta Rhymes – and that was only for weekend number one. For his second set the following weekend, he brought out Jay Z, Usher and more. The success of “Happy” may have been responsible for his happiness, but nobody was happier than the fans in the crowd watching it all unfold right before their eyes.
Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg And Hologram Tupac – 2012
Okay, so we’re used to reunions at Coachella … but resurrections are a whole different story. Tupac made an immaculate return at the festival in 2012 when a hologram version of the late-rapper was projected onto the stage, and it gave us the opportunity to check out a realistic, yet kind of haunting look at him in this day and age.
Joined alongside him were the, uh, real life versions of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, and the trio performed tracks like “Come With Me” and “Gangsta Party.” The set also featured appearances by artists such as Eminem and 50 Cent, and while the whole hologram thing was met with mixed reviews overall, the performance still ended up being pretty great.