Celebrating 25 years of Coachella music festival 

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif. (KESQ) - This year marks 25 years of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, known around the world simply as "Coachella." The festival started in 1999 with Rage Against the Machine, Beck, The Chemical Brothers, and Tool as headliners.

"It changed the festival from being something that didn't really have a great vibe, that was just a bunch of music, into something that was atmospheric and was just revolutionary," says Bruce Fessier, a Coachella Valley Media Hall of Fame inductee whose covered every single Coachella during his career as an entertainment journalist.

"I wrote my column after that first Coachella that I couldn't find anything to compare it with," Fessier says.

The first festival took place at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, where this weekend, tens of thousands of festival goers will descend upon the valley for 25 years of Coachella. Although the festival started in 1999, it had cancelations in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making this the 25th year of the festival.

"It started off as a festival for not just the cool kids...it was basically trying to get music that couldn't get on MTV and music they couldn't get on AM and FM radio," he says.

This year, Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Beiber, and Karol G are headliners. Karol G is the first latina artist to headline Coachella."I think this is the greatest lineup that I've ever seen because it is the most intergenerational lineup they've ever had," Fessier says.

In 2016, the iconic rock band Guns N' Roses took the main stage as headliners, with Frank Ferrer as their drummer.

"It was mind blowing," Ferrer says reflecting on his Coachella performance. He played with the band for 19 years and says his experience changed his life.

"I grew up really poor in New York City projects, just like every inner city kid. And I looked out and fell in love with music at a really early age. And I was able to make a life for myself," he says.

Guns N' Roses is widely considered one of the most influential rock bands in the world, known for songs like "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City."

Ferrer reminisced on his favorite memories with the band. "Three nights in Madison Square Garden, New York City. I grew up in New York City. So it was huge. My family was there, my mom was there, my sisters were there. It was kind of like, you know, I didn't finish university or college, so it was kind of like my graduation," he says.