Fans are starting to speculate that Madonna will be making a surprise appearance during Sabrina Carpenter’s headline set at Coachella.
READ MORE: Sabrina Carpenter live in London: A testament to playing the long game to pop superstardom
Carpenter has already performed as one of three headliners at weekend one of the California music festival, and is set to return for the second weekend in a few hours time.
Last weekend, she brought out Susan Sarandon for a reflective monologue about show business, and Will Ferrell also made a guest appearance, playing a disgruntled electrician who was called to fix a stage lighting outage.
Now, as fans speculate about what she has planned for the second weekend of Coachella, rumours have begun swirling that she will introduce Madonna to the stage as a special guest.
Nothing has been confirmed at time of writing, but some are still thinking that the collaboration could happen as Madonna recently made headlines by announcing her first new album in seven years.
The Queen of Pop is set to drop the long-anticipated sequel to’ Confessions On A Dance Floor’ this summer – with ‘Confessions II’ being announced this week and arriving on July 3.
This, some think, would be the perfect opportunity to make a surprise guest appearance at Coachella.
Madonna?
byu/Soft_Librarian_2305 inCoachella
“Rumour is she’s Sabrina’s special guest,” one person wrote on Reddit, adding that Carpenter seems to have “10 extra minutes” allocated to her for weekend two.
“Probably a special thing for her new album ‘Confessions On A Dance Floor II’,” another chimed in, highlighting that she “surprised” fans in 2006 when she played a show in the Sahara Tent instead of the main stage to help celebrate her initial ‘Confessions’ album.
“She’s gonna make a surprise appearance on Sabrina Carpenter’s set,” a third wrote, and someone else chimed in: “Yes, a friend of mine that lives in Palm Springs told me the same. She will be singing with Sabrina.”
People have also been speculating on X/Twitter about a collaboration between the two pop stars at the festival this weekend.
One fan page for the ‘Vogue’ singer shared images and alleged that it was Madonna preparing for a performance with Carpenter, as well as suggesting that the two of them have a joint song coming out at some point soon.
“Speculation regarding Madonna’s return predicts a single in collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter and, in turn, forecasts a joint performance at Sabrina Carpenter’s Coachella show scheduled for Friday, April 17,” another page wrote. Find more speculation below.
Madonna was seen rehearsing for her guest appearance during Sabrina Carpenter’s Coachella show this Friday.
The two are rumored to release a brand new song this week for Madonna’s new album #Sabrinawood #COADF2 #M15 pic.twitter.com/cxu9WZRSYX
— madonna (@mdnaspears_) April 15, 2026
Las especulaciones respecto al retorno de Madonna vaticinan un sencillo en colaboración con Sabrina Carpenter y, a su vez, pronostican una interpretación conjunta en el espectáculo de Sabrina Carpenter de Coachella fechado para el viernes, 17 de abril. pic.twitter.com/RT8ECOHq0h
— SergioOpina (@sergioopina_) April 9, 2026
The setlist has not yet been confirmed for Madonna’s new album, although it has been revealed that there will be a standard 12-track version and a bonus edition with four extra songs. You can pre-order it now.
Opening the album will supposedly be a song titled ‘One Step Away’. Madge said that the new record is best summed up in the opening lines of that track: “People think that dance music is superficial, but they’ve got it all wrong. The dance floor is not just a place, it’s a threshold: A ritualistic space where movement replaces language”.
‘Confessions II’ sees the queen of pop reunite with the producer of the original album, Stuart Price, whom she already revealed she had been working with back in December 2024.
“When Stuart Price and I first started working on this record, this was our manifesto: We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna shared. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices.”
As for Carpenter, after her first set at Coachella 2026, she issued an apology after mistaking Zaghrouta, a celebratory Arabic chant, for a yodel.
You can check out the set times for Coachella here, along with details on how to watch the festival online.
The post Fans think Madonna will be joining Sabrina Carpenter on stage at Coachella this weekend appeared first on NME.
