Deadmau5 apologises for drunken set at Coachella 2025: “I don’t remember a thing”

Deadmau5 has apologised for his performance at Coachella 2025, saying he was so drunk that he “doesn’t remember a thing”.

• READ MORE: Deadmau5 talks ‘World Of Tanks Blitz’ collab ‘Familiars’ and new music: “Let’s get a little weird with it”

The Canadian DJ and producer – real name Joel Zimmerman – was scheduled to play a three and a half hour set under his alter ego Testpilot B2B with ZHU, on the festival’s new Quasar Stage on Friday night (April 18).

However, the set would end up being cut short after Deadmau5 got noticeably intoxicated, drinking shots on stage and making slurred comments into the microphone.

See some fan-captured accounts of the set from the California site below, many of which note that they still enjoyed the show.

@stagehoppers

Deadmau5 shortly before getting kicked off stage for being drunk set was a good time though! #deadmau5 #coachella2025 #coachella

♬ original sound – Stage Hoppers

@autografmusic

Deadmau5 showed up to Coachella and forgot he was the DJ during his b2b with zhu #coachella #dj #djmix #edm #deadmau5 #fyp

♬ original sound – Autograf

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A post shared by Backstage (@stoolbackstage)

On Saturday (April 20), Deadmau5 posted a photograph of a water bottle on his Instagram, writing: “I dont remember a thing. But I don’t think I had a cig? So… that’s good I guess? Going back to bed. Wake me up around Thursday ish.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by deadmau5 (@deadmau5)

In the comment section, he quipped that it would “probably” be his last Coachella appearance, while later in the day, he posted a pic of his cat, adding: “Man, even my cat is disappointed in me. Tho, it could be argued that she always has been.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by deadmau5 (@deadmau5)

“Sorry about last night. Lol.” he continued. “TO BE FAIR, I felt the first 3/4 was great! Huge shout out to @zhu for introducing me to whisky and carrying my dumb ass till the bitter end. lemme quit smoking, do some fucken personal resetting here at home, find my spirit animal, work on some new music, and come back better.”

In other news, Deadmau5 reportedly secured a massive $55million deal with Create Music Group for his recorded music catalogue earlier this year, spanning over 4000 releases. The deal is said to include the publishing and master recordings of the artist’s catalogue, as well as his Mau5trap record label. It also includes interest in future releases from Deadmau5 as well as the label.

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