Lady Gaga suffers microphone malfunction at Coachella: “At least you know I sing live”
Lady Gaga suffered technical issues while performing at the second weekend of Coachella 2025, but used the mishap to joke with fans about singing live.
Last week, Gaga made her return to the Californian festival – which has seen sets from the likes of Post Malone, Travis Scott, Missy Elliott, Charli XCX, Megan Thee Stallion and more – with her flamboyant headline performance marking her first since her 2017 debut at the event.
Her first set saw her perform a slew of old fan-favourites including ‘Judas’, ‘Alejandro’, ‘Paparazzi’ and ‘Born This Way’, and was dubbed “GAGACHELLA” by viewers at home, with social media alight with praise of the high-octane performance. “I have no words,” wrote one X/Twitter user. “All I can say is this Lady Gaga set might be the greatest Coachella set of all time.”
Last night’s (April 18) went less smoothly, however. After launching into the second song of the night, ‘Abracadabra‘, fans noticed her head mic starting to glitch and cut out throughout the song.
She then smoothly exchanged the faulty head mic with a handheld mic, continuing with choreography as normal, in one moment clutching a cane and the mic. She later emerged with a new head mic and had no issues for the remainder of her set.
“i’m sorry my mic was broken for a second, atleast you know sing live” oh lady gaga the LEGEND that you are #Gagachella pic.twitter.com/oVn5hNR2nI
— pop culture gal (@allurequinn) April 19, 2025
lady gaga managed to switch from head mic to hand mic and back to head mic in literal MINUTES without interrupting her performance after some technical difficulties. WHAT A LEGEND. WHAT A PRO. #Gagachella pic.twitter.com/Vk7RYSWwmd
— pop culture gal (@allurequinn) April 19, 2025
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Addressing the moment while perched at the piano, she told festival-goers: “I’m sorry my mic was broken for a second. At least you know I sing live,” adding: “I guess all we can do is our best and I’m certainly giving you my best tonight.”
Gaga’s Coachella stint follows a banner year for the pop star, following the release of her latest album, ‘Mayhem’, which landed at Number Four in the top 10 best-selling vinyl albums of 2025 so far.
In a four-star review of the record, NME wrote: “There’s a nonchalant confidence in the way Gaga sticks to her maximalist vision without pandering to contemporary pop trends. Most ‘Mayhem’ tracks run close to or over four minutes, making them mini-epics in the TikTok era.
“Ultimately, ‘Mayhem’ feels like a great Gaga album because it’s just so much fun. At times, it’s a bit like reconnecting with an old friend who makes sense even when they seem to be chatting nonsense. Seventeen years after she broke through with ‘Just Dance’, Lady Gaga remains pop’s foremost agent of impeccably crafted chaos.”
The singer’s landmark set comes after she hit out at ageism in the music industry, promising fans she was just getting started. Back in March, she said: “Even though the world might consider a woman in her late 30s to be old for a pop star – which is insane – I promise that I’m just getting warmed up.”
Meanwhile, she recently responded to a meme about ‘Harlequin’ being excluded from her Coachella sets, saying it was “one of my proudest pieces”.