Singer Rema shows up 30 minutes late to Coachella set in ‘disaster’ performance

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Singer-rapper Rema showed up to his own Coachella set 30 minutes into his 45-minute set in a performance fans have deemed a “disaster.”

Scheduled to take the Mojave stage from 6:40 – 7:25 p.m. PT, Rema, 22, was nowhere to be found when his set began.

A DJ and a handful of musicians took the stage on time. After a few minutes, the DJ told the crowd, “Rema’s about to take the stage!”

But it took the singer about 20 more minutes to make his entrance.

Finally, the DJ abruptly paused the music and yelled to the crowd. “Are you ready? If you’re ready for Rema, make some mother******’ noise!”

Rema took the stage but appeared to be lip synching, in another blow to excited fans. He had to pause for water breaks throughout the abbreviated set, and then continued on when his time onstage was up seemingly in hopes of making up for his lateness. Rema then had the band restart a song after deciding to play a different tune at the last second. Then the set ended abruptly, leaving attendees confused.

Fans watching in-person and via the live-stream were clearly concerned — and disappointed — by the singer’s tardiness.

“The Rema set at Coachella is a disaster. 20 mins in and Rema Is nowhere to be found. The DJ has been hyping the crowd while the band just stares at each other. It’s the DJ’s set at this point,” one person wrote on X.

“Nahh Rema pulling up late while the DJ & guitarist look around wondering where he’s at is wild,” another said.

“Coachella being my first time seeing rema perform … i thought he had a better artistic direction, stage not that different, not even 3 dancers & a basic ass outfit and i swear so far he has sung 3 lines live,” someone else shared.

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“What just happened? Rema has been affected by something that happened backstage. This is not him. But you can tell he is trying,” another wrote.

Fans were hoping Rema would bring out Selena Gomez, with whom the young singer duetted on the remix of his 2022 song, “Calm Down,” from his debut studio album, Rave & Roses. But Rema only performed a few songs before his time was up.

Born Divine Ikubor, the Nigerian singer emerged onto the scene with his 2019 song “Dumebi.” He’s made waves during previous performances for walking off mid-set.

During a 2023 performance in Atlanta, he left the stage mid-performance after he felt he was being disrespected by the poor production quality.

Then, in 2024, he walked offstage during his set at the Dreamville Festival in North Carolina after repeatedly complaining of sound issues.

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