Idris Elba is best known for his roles on television and in film, so many were surprised to see his name on the Coachella lineup.
It was announced on Wednesday that Elba will perform alongside musical acts like Ariana Grande, Childish Gambino, Janelle Monae, The 1975, Solange, Kid Cudi, Khalid and Zedd during the musical festival, which runs from April 12-14 and April 19-21 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif.
Elba, who has worked as a DJ and producer since his teenage years, will perform on April 13. Tame Impala is set to headline that day, while J Balvin, Bassnectar, Weezer, Wiz Khalifa and Maggie Rogers will also take the stage.
The actor began his DJing career at 14. No stranger to the world of music festivals, he has previously performed at Glastonbury and Creamfields in the U.K. Additionally, he performed a set at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding reception in May.
Elba has also taken his passion for music into the studio. He collaborated with Fatboy Slim on “Uptown Funk” and remixed Skepta’s “Shutdown.” English DJ Pete Tong also worked on an “All Gone Pete Tong” edit of Elba’s 2016 single “Spectacle.”
He released his first EP in 2006, titled Big Man, followed by Kings Among Kings in 2009, High Class Problems Vol. 1 in 2010 and Idris Elba Presents Mi Mandela in 2014. The mixtape Merry DriisMas Holiday Mixtape dropped in 2011, while his album Murdah Loves John (The John Luther Character Album) was released in 2015.
This past July it was announced that Elba had launched a record label, 7Wallace Music.
Elba took to Twitter to announce his participation in the music festival on Thursday. “See you in the desert,” he captioned a photo that included the lineup for the musical festival.
See you in the desert @coachella #saturday pic.twitter.com/8944QF2JY5
— Idris Elba (@idriselba) January 3, 2019
Not only will Elba be taking his DJing skills to Coachella, but he will also soon play a struggling DJ in the Netflix comedy series Turn Up Charlie. In addition to starring as titular character, Elba co-created the series with Gary Reich, and the duo will serve as executive producers alongside Tristram Shapeero.
The series follows struggling DJ Charlie, a longtime bachelor who is given a final chance at success when he becomes a “manny” for his famous best friend’s problem-prone daughter (Frankie Harvey). Piper Perabo and JJ Feild will co-star, while Angela Griffin, Guz Khan, Jocelyn Jee Esein, Jade Anouka, Cameron King and Dustin Demri-Burns round out the cast as recurring guest stars.
Check out the first photos from the new series below.
