Noga Erez, First Israeli Artist to Perform at Coachella, Tells Crowd She’s ‘Heartbroken’ About Mideast Conflict
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Noga Erez performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 11, 2026. Photo: Screenshot
Israeli artist Noga Erez took a pause from her performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Saturday to address Israel’s ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
Erez’s 45-minute set took place at the festival’s Gobi Stage, and this year marked the first time that Erez made a musical appearance at Coachella. She made history as the first Israeli singer to perform at the annual festival in Indio, California.
“I just want to say one thing: You don’t get to play a stage like this every day,” she said in an emotional speech to the audience. “And I come from a very, very complex part of this planet. And to get us all here doing this was kind of like forces that I didn’t know that I had. I am so f–king grateful to be here and at the same time, I’m just heartbroken and sad because of things that are happening at home and around it.”
“I just love this music thing so much, and right now, doing this thing is exactly what I’m doing it for, [which] is to put a bunch of strangers together and make them feel like a family united around something,” she concluded. “Thank you so much for giving me this.”
Erez closed her Coachella set with a bleeding nose and a track in which she sang: “It’s the Wild West, but we’re from the Middle East. Broke all the stats fam, we’re really doing this. They’re gonna put my face on the Statue of Liberty.” She also brought on stage her daughter, whom she shares with her longtime partner in life and music Ori Rousso.
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Erez’s performance at Coachella took place despite threats and hateful messages from antisemites and anti-Israel activists, who threatened to have her set canceled and told the artist, “Go back to Israel; you are not welcome here.” She will perform on Wednesday in Los Angeles and Thursday in Las Vegas, Nevada, before performing again at Coachella on Saturday.
During the Hamas-led terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, terrorists infiltrated the Nova music festival, where hundreds were murdered and dozens were kidnapped. The attack led to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which has been paused since a ceasefire was reached last year.
In late February, the US and Israel launched a joint operation against Iran, which has responded with barrages of drones and ballistic missiles against the Jewish state and other countries in the region.
