Featured Image Credit: YouTube/@coachella
Topics: Justin Bieber, Coachella, Hailey Bieber, Social Media, Celebrity, Music
Madison Burgess
Topics: Justin Bieber, Coachella, Hailey Bieber, Social Media, Celebrity, Music
Justin Bieber fans are obsessing over a new detail that's come to light following his Coachella headline performance.
The 32-year-old Canadian singer took to the stage to deliver the first round of 'Bieberchella' on Saturday night (11 April).
He performed the first of his two sets at the California music festival, delivering a stripped-back set with minimal production, no back-up dancers, and no costume changes, which divided opinion.
The 90-minute performance saw Bieber belt a slew of hits from his 2025 albums SWAG and SWAG II, before pulling out his laptop and singing along to music videos of his older tunes like 'Baby' and 'Beauty and a Beat'.
Advert
Bieber even took time to play a few meme videos for the audience, including the infamous 'standing on business' moment from last year.
He's set to return to the stage on Saturday (April 18) for a second headline performance, now that the first weekend has come to a close.
As mentioned, his headline set prompted some backlash, with people complaining that the performance wasn't planned enough to warrant an alleged $10 million paycheck.
However, the singer's wife, Hailey, has since shared an Instagram post sharing the behind-the-scenes of her husband's performance, which included a video of him rehearsing.
In the clip, the Rhode founder, 29, danced as she watched Bieber practice his set on the big stage, which seemingly included scrolling through YouTube and making sure he had the clips ready.
She wrote in the caption: "Such a special weekend. nobody will ever know even an ounce of what it’s taken to get here. so grateful for this beautiful life. SO proud. let’s do it all again!!!!"
Reacting to the clip on X, one user penned: "Justin was really out there rehearsing his YouTube scrolling, I’m crying."
While a second brutally wrote: "If this was all really planned out and scripted, that makes it like 10x worse."
And a third agreed: "The fact that hundreds of people from Coachella and his team approved this mess…"
But, defending the star, one fan jumped in to point out: "This doesn’t prove that he 'rehearsed' his YouTube scrolling. He can’t perform those songs without pulling them up on YouTube because he sold his catalogue.
"So it’s the same concept, he can’t sound check without using YouTube either. Y'all are stupid lol."
A second agreed: "Of course, he rehearsed and made sure the equipment would work. Tell us you've never been on a stage and don't understand soundcheck without telling us."
And a third sarcastically wrote: "Omg…. One of the best entertainers of all time rehearsed before headlining Coachella?"
Meanwhile, some people simply found the whole thing hilarious, writing: "LMFAOOOO DONT KILL ME" and "Justin Bieber you will forever be a legend".
According to former Universal Music Group (UMG) exec Nick Crompton, there was actually a very smart reason why Bieber decided to sing along to old music videos instead of performing his back catalogue with a live band.
He says it's linked to when Bieber sold the rights to his music to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for a reported $200 million back in 2023.
“Every minute he spends performing the old catalogue is a minute he's putting in work for other people's royalty checks,” Crompton wrote on X.
“Playing the YouTube videos costs him nothing. No band, no backup singers, little production. Fans still get records like ‘Baby’, ‘Sorry’, ‘Beauty and a Beat’, and ‘Never Say Never’.
"All the nostalgia, none of the overhead. He saved his actual performance for Swag, which is the era he owns.”
But while it sounds like Bieber is playing 4D chess, a source familiar with the terms of Bieber's back catalogue deal told Billboard this interpretation is 'nonsense'.
They added: "There are no restrictions on what he can or can’t do in live performance."
Concert venues themselves often buy licenses that cover the performance of almost all popular songs. It's why when you see an artist live, they can throw in a couple of covers without worrying about hefty royalty checks.