Frank Ocean was first announced as a Coachella headliner for 2020, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted those plans. Now, he has made good on his promise to return to the festival for 2023, ending the first weekend of the festival. Wearing a blue jacket with the hood up, he opened with stripped-back renditions of “Novacane,” “Come on World, You Can’t Go!,” “Crack Rock,” and “Bad Religion,” before lurching into a modular-synth rework of “White Ferrari.” This story is updating as the set progresses.
After “White Ferrari,” Frank addressed the crowd for the first time, hinting that a new album is in the works and paying tribute to his late brother, Ryan Breaux. “Who’s on drugs tonight, who’s high right now?” Frank began. “It’s been so long. Everybody I’ve talked to has said how long it’s been, so long, so long… but I have missed you. I want to talk about why I’m here, because it’s not because of the new album. Not that there’s not a new album, but there’s not right now. It’s not right now.”
He continued, “These last couple years my life changed so much. My brother and I, we came to this festival a lot. I feel like I was dragged here so much of the time. I hated the dust; I always dealt with a respiratory infection.” He recalled watching Rae Sremmurd with his brother, dancing in one of the tents. “I know he would’ve been so excited to be here with all of us. I wanted to say thank you for the support and the ears and the love for all this time. I’m gonna get back to the songs.” He played an acoustic version of “Pink + White,” followed by a sub bass–heavy arrangement of “Solo.”
The set continued with a reworked “Chanel” and what Frank called a “rave mix” from DJ Crystalmess, including various Jersey club remixes and an interpolation of Underworld’s “Born Slippy.” A punk version of “Wiseman” followed, before a rendition of Willie Nelson’s “Night Life” (as famously covered by Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye).
Though Frank hasn’t revealed any plans for a follow-up to 2016’s Blonde and Endless, he has issued a handful of singles over the last couple of years. He shared “DHL” and “In My Room” in 2019, which he followed in 2020 with “Dear April.”
Beyond the music world, Frank Ocean launched his luxury company Homer in 2021, beginning with a line of silk scarves and jewelry. He more recently announced a new program, Homer Radio, with Apple Music.
