Believe it or not, Beyoncé is Coachella’s first black female headliner ever

The excitement leading up to the annual Coachella lineup announcement is basically akin only to the drop of a new Beyoncé album, so news that Queen Bey is set to headline the mega-festival in 2017 seems nothing short of cosmic.

What is entirely shocking, though, is that Beyoncé will be Coachella’s first female headliner in a decade — and the first black female headliner ever. Considering black women all but run the music industry in terms of star power and money earned (ever heard of Nicki Minaj, Alicia Keys or any of Destiny’s assorted children?), this not-so-fun fact is hard to believe but just another result of what appears to be racism and misogyny in the industry.

How the hell is this kind of mass exclusion even possible when it’s women raking in the most money and selling out stadiums in an industry where concert and album sales are facing record lows as a whole? Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z headlined a few years back and last time I checked, his wife’s music is the only thing keeping Tidal afloat.

Now that Bey is staking her rightful claim as Coachella Queen, we can hope that things will turn around and feature more of our faves — and more diversity of performers overall — in upcoming years. After all, if anyone can save us, it’s Beyonce.