Justin Bieber Defends Frank Ocean’s Controversial Coachella Performance

Frank Ocean headlined Coachella over the weekend. The controversial appearance prompted mixed reviews from fans who felt let down by the “Godspeed” singer’s first performance in six years.

Ocean was over an hour late to the set (it’s not yet known if the delay was due to festival organizers or Ocean himself), sang behind a screen for most of the performance, and only played for about 30 minutes due to Coachella’s curfew. Naturally, the performance disappointed some fans.

One fan who was not disappointed was Justin Bieber. The “Stay” singer took to social media in defense of Ocean after the performance, saying he was “blown away.”

“I was blown away by Frank Ocean’s Coachella performance,” Bieber wrote. “His artistry is simply unmatched, his style, his taste, his voice, his attention to detail…I was deeply moved.”

He continued, “It made me want to keep going and get better as an artist. He continues to set the bar high and gave me a night I will never forget! Thanks Frank.”

Check out the post, below.

There were some silver linings in Ocean’s set. He played a taster of new music, which will act as the follow-up to his 2016 album, Blonde. The new track, titled “Inner Child,” saw a young kid lip-sync to Ocean’s vocals while the singer sat in the background. Ocean also mentioned the possibility of a new record, although no specific details are known at the moment.

The singer also disappointed fans by not having his set live-streamed on Youtube like the rest of the festival. Coachella was set to give fans, who couldn’t make it out to the fest, unprecedented access to the performance via a number of live streams. Ocean was among the few artists that opted not to have his set broadcast.

Ocean was originally set to headline the California music festival in 2020, but that iteration of the fest was ultimately canceled due to COVID-19. According to Rolling Stone, the cagey performance this year was the result of a recent ankle injury Ocean sustained during the rehearsal process.

Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for The Recording Academy