Kanye West Will Not Perform at Coachella

Kanye West won’t be returning to Coachella this year.

According to TMZ, West was in talks to headline April’s festival before negotiations broke down over the stage. Kanye informed festival organizer Goldenvoice that he wouldn’t perform on a traditional 60×40 foot stage because it was “artistically limiting.” Goldenvoice would reportedly not allow the stage to be altered or removed for Ye’s set, so they mutually agreed to call off his performance.

Ye, who is known for his creative stage designs, is apparently done performing at festivals due to the limitations of the stage. During his “Saint Pablo Tour,” his stage was suspended over the crowd. He most recently performed in a floating glass box during his Kids See Ghosts set with Kid Cudi at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival.

“These 40×60 stages are so archaic,” a source close to Ye tells TMZ. “It’s the same type of stage on which Shakespeare’s works were performed hundreds of years ago.”

Goldenvoice was not willing to compromise the other performers to accommodate Kanye, who performed at Coachella in 2006 and later headlined in 2011.

The 2019 Coachella lineup is expected to be announced as soon as today. Childish Gambino, Justin Timberlake, and even Rihanna are among the potential headliners.

Kanye may have his own tour plans in the works. He recently took to Twitter to tease a Kids See Ghosts tour with Kid Cudi to promote their joint album.