Noga Erez, the 1st Israeli artist to play Coachella, tells crowd she’s grateful to be there amid war

By Jessica Steinberg

You will receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

You will no longer receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

12 April 2026, 12:36 pm

Edit

Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

Noga Erez poses on the cover of Harper's Bazaar Czech Republic March 2026 issue (Courtesy)

Indie artist Noga Erez, performing at California music festival Coachella, shares with the audience some thoughts about reaching the US during the 40-day war with Iran.

“To get us all here took kind of like, forces I didn’t know I had,” says Erez, who wrote on social media about the trials of getting out of Tel Aviv during the war with her partner and musical collaborator Ori Rousso, their toddler daughter and crew.

“I’m so f—-ing grateful to be here,” she says, to the cheers of the crowd.

“I’m just heartbroken and sad because of things that are happening at home and around it,” says Erez. “I just love this music thing so much and right now doing this thing is exactly what I’m doing it for, to put a bunch of strangers together and make them feel like a family, united around something.”

“We’re doing it, this is Coachella, unf—ing believable,” says Erez.

Erez is the first Israeli artist to perform at the festival, a pair of long weekends in the California desert, with 100 acts across eight stages.