Coachella Is Red Hot Chili Peppers Booking Came Down to the Wire

The Red Hot Chili Peppers signed on to headline Coachella about an hour before the annual Indio, California, festival announced its lineup last night, one of the band's managers tells Rolling Stone.

"We've been in talks for months," says Cliff Burnstein, whose firm, Q Prime, also manages Metallica, the Black Keys and other top rock acts. "It goes down to the wire. It's a negotiation."

The Peppers, who have played Coachella twice before, abruptly emerged as the Sunday-night headliner for both the April 12th and 14th weekends after weeks of rumors that the Rolling Stones would play the festival.

But Mick Jagger earlier this week told NME: "We're not gonna do Coachella, 'cos it's too early. There was a rumor we were gonna do that one, but it's very early, Coachella. It's April or something, isn't it? And we're not gonna be ready to go by April. But we're not gonna stop."