At Coachella, Justin Bieber Sang Along to Old Videos of Himself on His MacBook

Justin Bieber did, in fact, play some of his old music at Coachella. In karaoke form. While streaming old clips and early-2010s viral memes he’d pulled up on YouTube.

Yes, Bieber’s Saturday night headlining set at Coachella was a moment, in much the same way Frank Ocean’s 2023 headlining set was a moment. To be fair, it was not a complete trainwreck. Bieber’s vocals sounded strong as he worked through material from his latest releases, Swag and Swag II, and the back half of the set brought out guests including Dijon, Tems, and Mk.gee.

Still, Bieber made an intentional choice to keep the production stripped down, eschewing elaborate set pieces and choreographed dancing in favor of him alone on stage in a hoodie and jeans. It made for a stark contrast with many Coachella headliners of years past, including Friday night’s own Sabrina Carpenter.

And then there was the most confounding moment of the night: the way Bieber revisited his back catalog. With a MacBook positioned center stage, he spent nearly half an hour singing along to old videos he searched on YouTube. At first, the bit was oddly charming. There was something endearing about watching Bieber, from the Coachella main stage, sing “Beauty and a Beat” alongside archival footage of his younger self. But the gag kept going, stretching close to 30 minutes as he mixed performance clips with memes like “Deez Nuts” and “Double Rainbow,” plus old videos of himself falling through a hole in the stage or clashing with paparazzi.  At one point, he even ran into buffering issues. “Wi-Fi, come on, man,” he said as the video for “Sorry” stalled. He also ceded much of the vocal heavy lifting on both “Sorry” and “Where Are Ü Now” to the audience.

Fans annoyed by Bieber’s performance (and to be sure, there are many of them) have their points: for the high price of Coachella tickets, it’s not unreasonable to expect more out of a headlining performance. Many have also pointed out the double-standard that would surely exist if a female pop star tried to pull of a similar stunt. Bieber defenders, however, will note that this is a guy who has been chewed up and spit out by the music industry, and the mere fact that he even took the stage (Coachella marked his first public concert in four years), let alone seemed happy and healthy throughout was a victory in itself.

I’ll just leave it by quoting Katy Perry in saying, “Thank God he has YouTube Premium, I don’t want to see any ads.”

Justin Bieber plays deez nuts vine meme on the big screen mid-set at Coachella #BIEBERCHELLA #Coachella pic.twitter.com/VfVQe7k6nj

— zak (@zakfromdahood) April 12, 2026

Estos 8 minutos de Justin Bieber cantando sus temas viejos los voy a atesorar en mi corazón por el resto de mi vida. GRACIAS JUSTIN, GRACIAS#BIEBERCHELLA pic.twitter.com/dQ8N6sVHOI

— Miku¹⁶ ⁴³ (@FashionXGirl_) April 12, 2026