'Jesus Walks' ... to Coachella: Kanye West holds Sunday service on Easter morning
Kanye West invited the public to worship with him on Easter morning at Coachella, livestreaming the proceedings on YouTube.
The event, which lasted nearly three hours, featured West and celebrity friends like Chance the Rapper, Teyana Taylor and Kid Cudi.
They were joined by a full band and a massive gospel choir, all dressed in shades of pink and purple. Overhead shots of the festival showed thousands of people surrounding a grassy hill, where the musicians were arranged in a circle.
The uplifting service featured clever snippets and mash-ups of gospel and pop classics with West's own songs like "Lift Yourself," "All Falls Down," "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1," "Otis," "Power," "Ultralight Beam" and, of course, "Jesus Walks."
The Clark Sisters' "Ha Ya (Eternal Life)," and the JAY-Z song that sampled it, "Family Feud," were mashed up, and the musicians also performed Kirk Franklin's "Brighter Day," Shirley Caesar's "Satan We're Gonna Tear Your Kingdom Down" and "Back to Life" by Soul II Soul.
West, his hair dyed purple and black, performed two songs: "All Falls Down" and "Jesus Walks." At the end of the latter, he fell to his knees and appeared to be deep in prayer. He also introduced a new song called "Water," which had spiritual lyrics: "Let your light reflect on me/Take the glory, not our conversation/I know I might not be as perfect as Christ/But we're made up of 90 percent water."
Chance the Rapper got the crowd going by rapping his "Ultralight Beam" verse, adding this line, "Please don't forget about Christ." Teyana Taylor sang her track "Never Would Have Made It," which took on a distinctly religious meaning. DMX, a past guest at Sunday services past, also led the crowd in prayer.
At one point as the chorus sang, "His love is pure," West appeared completely overcome by emotion and was embraced and supported by DMX and Cudi.
According to the Desert Sun, more than 10,000 people attended the service.
