DUBAI: Palestinian Chilean singer Elyanna has become the first Palestinian artist to perform at Coachella, the popular music festival that is held annually in Indio, California. She also set a precedent as the first Arabic-language artist to perform at the event.
Elyanna, who is famous for her songs “Ghareeb Alay,” “Ala Bali” and “Ana Lahale,” hit the Gobi Tent during the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this weekend and in doing so became the first-ever artist to perform an entire set in Arabic at the festival.
“Tomorrow on stage at 2:30!!! ? I can’t wait! I put my heart into this show! I love you,” she posted before the show, which took place on Friday.
The Los Angeles-based music sensation, who has been taking the music industry by storm, was spotted in Saudi Arabia in November where she hosted a one-on-one session, called “Pro Xperience,” at XP Music Futures to discuss her professional career.
“Growing up, I was inspired by a lot of genres such as jazz; it was all I would sing as a young girl,” she previously told Arab News. “When I moved to the US, I felt an immediate connection with Arabic music and my culture. It gave me another perspective on the type of music I wanted to create.”
Elyanna also explained more about her musical process.
“Each of my projects have a different source of inspiration and I still have a lot to achieve and learn from,” she said. “I work on always improving my music from lyrics to melody and production but also the overall purpose behind my music.”