LOS ANGELES — Before the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival became a world-famous event, it started as a much more modest music festival in Southern California's desert in 1999.

During the festival, the Empire Polo Club in Indio has been the site of some of the biggest music and pop culture moments of the century, from Daft Punk's iconic pyramid spectacle in the Sahara Tent in 2006 to Beyoncé bringing a legendary "Homecoming" to Coachella's largest stage in 2018.

As the festival kicks off its 25th year, we combed through The Times' extensive archives to take a trip down Coachella's memory lane. Look through and you'll see those epic moments from Daft Punk, Beyoncé, Prince and Madonna, but also the iconic large art installations at the festival and just how much the event has grown and changed over the years.

1999

The inaugural Coachella happened in October 1999 and was a two-day affair headlined by Beck, Rage Against the Machine and Tool, which The Times' then-pop music critic Robert Hilburn dubbed the "Anti-Woodstock 99." However, the inaugural event was marred by a triple-digit heat wave and was a financial disaster.

2001

Due to the financial losses, Coachella skipped a year and returned in April 2001 as a one-day event with a headlining set by Jane's Addiction and a bill featuring artists such as Weezer and Paul Oakenfold. It drew more than 32,000 people to the desert.

2002

Coachella went back to being a two-day event in 2002, headlined by Bjork and Oasis. One of the emerging acts on the bill that year was a rock combo out of New York called the Strokes.

2003

The Beastie Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers headlined Coachella 2003, but the lineup also included the White Stripes, Iggy and the Stooges, Underworld and the Blue Man Group.

2004

In 2004, the Flaming Lips created an iconic Coachella moment when singer Wayne Coyne traveled over the crowd in a giant inflatable ball. Headlined by Radiohead and the Cure, the festival also included a reunion of the Pixies. It also marked Coachella's first sellout, with 60,000 attendees per day.

2005

Coldplay and Nine Inch Nails headlined Coachella in 2005. Weezer, the Chemical Brothers and Wilco were some of the other notable acts on the bill. Among the memorable moments was the reunion of Bauhaus and singer Peter Murphy performing "Bela Lugosi's Dead" while hanging upside down like a bat.

2006

Technically Depeche Mode and Tool headlined Coachella in 2006, but neither of those is the act everyone remembers from that year. Daft Punk brought out its elaborate pyramid stage and changed the festival and dance music. It was also the year that Madonna surprised Coachella fans by performing in the Sahara Tent. Kanye West was added to the lineup two days before the festival.

2007

Coachella expanded to three days in 2007 with headliners Bjork, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine. Amy Winehouse performed to an overflowing Gobi Tent. However, it was the reunited Rage that made headlines, particularly when Zack de la Rocha called for the George W. Bush administration to be "hung and tried and shot" for war crimes during "Wake Up."

2008

Prince was added as a headliner two weeks before the festival began and performed a cover of Radiohead's "Creep" that is still talked about. It was also the one year that there was a dedicated Coachella Express Amtrak train from Los Angeles to Indio. Jack Johnson headlined the first night and Roger Waters closed the main stage, performing Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and letting a giant inflatable pig loose in the sky.

2009

Coachella 2009 marked the final year the general public could buy single-day tickets to the festival. Paul McCartney headlined opening night and played 50-plus minutes after curfew. When the Cure tried the same thing to close down Sunday, the sound was cut earlier. Sandwiched in between was a headlining set from The Killers. Other notable performers included M.I.A., who stepped in after Amy Winehouse dropped off the lineup, Morrissey, who complained about the smell of burning flesh, and Leonard Cohen.

2010

This year was the first time the festival only offered three-day passes and Coachella drew a record 75,000 people per day, up nearly 15,000 from the previous year. It was also the year Coachella had its first rap headliner with Jay-Z, who brought out wife Beyoncé to perform "Young Forever." The other headliners in 2010 were Muse and Gorillaz. The eruption of an Icelandic volcano kept some artists from getting to the festival, including the Cribs and Frightened Rabbit. Then there was Sly Stone's oft-delayed set that ended with him ranting about his former manager and led to a slander lawsuit. The full festival was also livestreamed for the first time.

2011

Kanye West closed out Coachella 2011, the year before the fest expanded to double weekends, with a theatrical main stage set that featured dozens of dancers. He co-headlined with the Strokes on a lineup that also included Kings of Leon and Arcade Fire, the latter of which dropped giant light-up LED balls on the crowd as part of the performance.

2012

In 2012, Coachella added a second weekend. It also marked the first time in Coachella history when the famously sunny desert festival received rain. The big moment of the festival was the Tupac Shakur hologram that appeared on stage with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg during their headlining performance. The other artists topping the bill included the Black Keys — who brought out John Fogerty for a Levon Helm tribute Weekend 2 — Radiohead, Pulp and Swedish House Mafia. Attendance was estimated at 85,000 people per weekend.

2013

Blur and the Stone Roses shared headlining duties on opening night in a celebration of Britpop while Phoenix and the Red Hot Chili Peppers also had headlining turns during the weekends, the latter battling a nasty dust storm Weekend 1. The house-centric (and air-conditioned) nightclub-like Yuma Tent also made its debut in 2013. Art collective Poetic Kinetics brought "Helix Poeticus," colloquially known as the Coachella Snail, to Indio.

2014

A reunited Outkast, Muse and Arcade Fire headlined Coachella 2014, but one of the most memorable performances was Pharrell Williams' star-studded set on the Outdoor Theatre. We also saw the debut of Poetic Kinetics' "Escape Velocity," aka the Coachella astronaut, and the mirrored "Reflection Fields" by Phillip K. Smith among the festival's major art installations.

2015

AC/DC, Jack White and Drake headlined, the latter bringing out Madonna for a smooch, but Florence + The Machine was one of the breakout performances from the year, literally. Florence Welch broke her foot Weekend 1. This year also featured some of the most memorable art in the festival's history, with the hippos running "Corporate Headquarters" and the transformation of Poetic Kinetics' Coachella caterpillar into a butterfly.

2016

Guns N' Roses reunited for the festival, where singer Axl Rose performed from a throne after breaking his foot at a warm-up show at the Troubadour a week before. The festival also included performances from Ice Cube (with a reunion of N.W.A) and Mavis Staples as well as headlining sets from the reunited LCD Soundsystem and Calvin Harris, who brought out Rihanna.

2017

Beyoncé was originally supposed to headline Coachella in 2017 but was pregnant, so Lady Gaga stepped in. Kendrick Lamar and Radiohead also headlined, with the former releasing "Damn." on the first day of the festival. Hans Zimmer brought an orchestra and performed his biggest music from the movies too. The festival grounds expanded 20 acres and Coachella boosted capacity from 99,000 to 125,000 people. This year was also the debut of the Sonora Tent, which offers air-conditioning and rock club vibes.

2018

Coachella was already regarded globally as a music festival. Then Beyoncé turned Coachella into the pop culture moment of the year. Coachella became Beychella and her Homecoming performance was nothing short of epic, even becoming its own Netflix special. Beyond Beyoncé, Eminem and the Weeknd headlined, but one of the other standouts was Cardi B's TLC-inspired performance on the main stage. On the grounds, 2018 was the year "Spectra," the cylindrical rainbow tower, became part of the festival's landscape.

2019

Ariana Grande, Childish Gambino and Tame Impala headlined Coachella in 2019, but the big memories from that year were the rise of artists like Bad Bunny and Billie Eilish as they were becoming bona fide superstars. Arguably the most memorable performance of the year wasn't even during normal festival hours — it was when Kanye West held a Sunday Service in the campgrounds on Easter Sunday during Weekend 2. Meanwhile, to mark Coachella's 20th year, Poetic Kinetics brought back the famous roving Coachella astronaut in a new form as "Overview Effect."

2022

After the coronavirus pandemic canceled Coachella in 2020 and 2021, fans were excited to be back at the polo grounds in 2022. L.A. native Billie Eilish rose to headliner status, along with Harry Styles. Kanye West was supposed to headline Sunday night but canceled two weeks before the fest and was replaced by the Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia.

2023

Bad Bunny and Blackpink headlined both weekends of the 2023 festival. Frank Ocean gave a divisive performance Weekend 1 before dropping off the Weekend 2 lineup. A reunited Blink-182 was initially a surprise addition to the festival's bill and played in the Sahara Tent Weekend 1 before moving to the main stage to help fill the gap left by Ocean Weekend 2. The festival also added a combo of Skrillex, Fred Again.. and Four Tet to replace the absent headliner.

2024

Lana del Rey, Tyler, the Creator and Doja Cat headlined the festival in 2024, but one of the big draws was the reunion of No Doubt, who brought out Olivia Rodrigo. Sabrina Carpenter, who is headlining the 2026 festival, also performed on the main stage during the day. The big changes in 2024 were that the main festival grounds expanded with a larger Sahara Tent on the southern end of the site and the addition of the Quasar Stage.

2025

Lady Gaga, Green Day and Post Malone headlined the festival, but other memorable moments included Benson Boone and his acrobatics, Gustavo Dudamel conducting the L.A. Phil and a surprise appearance by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

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