Fans react as Frank Ocean pulls out of Coachella Weekend 2

Following last weekend's divisive performance, Frank Ocean has pulled out of his scheduled headline set at Coachella 2023 this Sunday, April 23. Blink-182 will reportedly take over his Sunday slot.

Claiming the decision was made on the advice of his doctor, the singer will not perform due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg. “It was chaotic,” Ocean said in a statement.

“It was chaotic,” Ocean said in a statement. “There is some beauty in chaos. It isn’t what I intended to show but I did enjoy being out there and I’ll see you soon.”

Ocean’s set on Sunday (April 16), featured reworked version of songs from across his discography, including 'Novacane,' 'Pink + White,' 'White Ferrari,' 'Crack Rock,' and more.

There was a new punk version of the Django Unchained outtake 'Wiseman' and a cover of the Willie Nelson-penned Aretha Franklin song 'Night Life.'

During the show, where he arrived over an hour late, Ocean addressed the crowd, hinted that a new album was in the works and paid tribute to his late brother Ryan Breaux.

Fans online expressed their frustration that Ocean’s controversial set was one of very few that wouldn’t appear on the festival’s YouTube stream, with his performance ending abruptly.

“Guys, I’m being told it’s curfew, so that’s the end of the show,” Ocean said. “Thank you so much.” As the lights came up, fans booed and chanted “we want Frank.” The festival was later fined by Indio, California city officials for going over curfew.

Frank Ocean - Godspeed at Coachella Weekend 1

…since he won’t be back Weekend 2 😔 pic.twitter.com/Ot5JHElcMR

— Donilon (@donilon) April 19, 2023

Before last night's cancellation, sources indicated that Ocean had recently sustained an ankle injury and changed the set’s overall production. It was widely believed that the changes included scrapped plans for an ice skating rink connected to the stage.

Fans had been anticipating Ocean’s headlining performances at Coachella since 2020, when he was announced as one of the main acts before the festival was canceled for two years in a row due to the pandemic. In August 2021, the event’s co-founder Paul Tollett revealed the news that Ocean would headline the 2023 edition.

This marks the second year in a row a Coachella headliner has dropped out, after Kanye West pulled out of the festival in April 2022 without naming a reason.

He was replaced by Swedish House Mafia and the Weeknd, who performed together on Sundays, April 17 and 24. West was later sued for $7.1 million by the Los Angeles–based production and design firm Phantom Labs, which claimed the rapper owed them money for work on his canceled Coachella performance.