Drake Makes Surprise Performance at Wireless Festival After DJ Khaled Cancels (Watch)

By Jem Aswad

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Drake stunned the crowd at London’s Wireless Festival with a surprise performance on Sunday night, replacing scheduled headliner DJ Khaled, who cancelled due to “travel issues.”

Decked in a jersey bearing the logo of his label, OVO, raced through a brief but tight six-song set featuring premiere performances of songs from his new album “Scorpion,” which crushed streaming records after its release last Friday, becoming the first album to pass the 1-billion-stream mark in a single week.

Rumors about an appearance began circulating Saturday after Drake posted a video of himself in London mentioning Wireless — and then Sunday, a banner with the OVO logo soared over the main stage, according to multiple news outlets . “I left vacation to be with each and every one of you at Wireless Fest,” he told the crowd. Still, Khaled’s cancellation left a sour taste for many in the crowd, as he posted photos of himself saying he was still on vacation. Wireless later responded , tweeting that the cause was a scheduling conflict with “The Four,” the TV competition on which Khaled is a judge, and “Although we have known for a few months and tried to make it work, it wasn’t possible.”

“We take responsibility for not telling fans sooner and want all Khaled’s fans in UK to know he truly looks forward to coming to UK to perform soon,” they wrote.

Drake played to the crowd by launching his set with UK rapper Giggs, playing their collaboration “KMT,” before plunging into his own set.

Migos — with whom Drake will be launching a massive North American tour this month — Rae Sremmurd, Rick Ross and others also performed at the festival.