Idris Elba Makes Coachella Debut as DJ
Over the weekend, British actor, Idris Elba, performed at the music and arts festival as a deejay for the first time, and in a display of support, his 17-year-old daughter Isan and fiancée Sabrina Dhowe came along to cheer him on.
During his set, PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive spun records while wearing a large pair of sunglasses and an intricately patterned shirt, topping off the look with a bandana tied around his neck.
Though the 46-year-old actor sometimes performs under the name DJ Big Driis, he opted to perform under his own name at the Indio, California, festival. Ahead of her father’s big moment, Isan, who shared that she’d skipped her prom to attend the festival, posted a sweet photo of herself posing with Elba and a friend, captioning the snap, “Coachella weekend… day 1!”
Showing his excitement, the ‘Turn Up Charlie’ actor commented on the photo, writing, “Turn up Dad.”
Documenting her dad’s performance, Isan went on to share a clip on her Instagram Story, writing, “Come through with the old town remix,” in reference to the viral hit “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus.
Dhowre also shared clips from Elba’s set on social media, which showed her fiancé grooving to his beats beneath a disco ball while Elba himself celebrated his milestone performance with a shirtless selfie; “You ready @coachella?????? I am!!!!! Game face let’s get it,” he captioned the picture.
The British actor previously told PEOPLE that he’s loved music since he was 4 years old, when he was first “mesmerized by the turntable going around and around.”
“I’ve worked my whole life to play at Coachella. I made it at 46!” he said. “I nearly passed out when I found out.”
Elba started deejaying as a teenager, and has reportedly played everywhere from Los Angeles to Ibiza, even Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding reception.
“They were great, and we had an amazing time,” Elba told PEOPLE. “It was just an honor to be able to part of that celebration.”
In a promotional video released by Coachella ahead of the festival, the star joked about how shocked fans tend to be when they learn about his second set of skills.
“The reaction to me deejaying at Coachella was, ‘What?’ It was on CNN like, ‘Idris Elba’s deejaying at Coachella this year and it’s going to be amazing!’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, if you like my kind of music,’ ” he said.
“Like, really famous musicians are like, ‘Oh I’m going to listen to him deejaying.’ I’m like, wait a second. I play really hard, cerebral tech. One of the things that drives me as a deejay is that I want people to walk away and go, ‘I expected him to be shit. He was alright.’ ”
Elba, who currently stars in Netflix’s ‘Turn Up Charlie’ as a deejay-turned-nanny, will perform again at Coachella on April 20.
