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Jesus Walks…to Coachella: Kanye West holds Sunday Service on Easter morning

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Timothy Norris/Getty Images for CoachellaKanye West invited the public to worship with him on Easter morning, as he brought his Sunday Service to Coachella April 21 and live-streamed the proceedings on YouTube.

The event, which lasted nearly three hours, featured Kanye and celebrity friends like Chance the Rapper, Teyana Taylor and Kid Cudi –– Kanye had appeared during Cudi’s set on Saturday night.

They were joined by a full band and a massive gospel choir, all dressed in shades of pink and purple. Overhead shots of the festival showed thousands of people surrounding a grassy hill, where the musicians were arranged in a circle.

The uplifting service featured clever snippets and mash-ups of gospel and pop classics with Kanye’s own songs like “Lift Yourself,” “All Falls Down,” “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1,” “Otis,” “Power,” “Ultralight Beam” and, of course, “Jesus Walks.”

The Clark Sisters‘ “Ha Ya (Eternal Life),” and the JAY-Z song that sampled it, “Family Feud,” were mashed up, and the musicians also performed Kirk Franklin’s “Brighter Day,” Shirley Caesar’s “Satan We’re Gonna Tear Your Kingdom Down” and “Back to Life” by Soul II Soul.

Kanye, his hair dyed purple and black, performed two songs: “All Falls Down” and “Jesus Walks.” At the end of the latter, he fell to his knees and appeared to be deep in prayer.  He also introduced a new song called “Water,” which had spiritual lyrics: “Let your light reflect on me/Take the glory, not our conversation/I know I might not be as perfect as Christ/But we’re made up of 90% water.”

Chance the Rapper got the crowd going by rapping his “Ultralight Beam” verse, adding in a line telling people, “Please don’t forget about Christ.”  Teyana Taylor sang her track “Never Would Have Made It,” which took on a distinctly religious meaning.  DMX, a past guest at Sunday Services past, also led the crowd in prayer.

At one point, as the chorus sang, “His love is pure,” Kanye appeared completely overcome by emotion, and was embraced and supported by DMX and Cudi.

The only negative aspect of the entire event?  For some reason, the picture that appeared on the event’s YouTube stream was shot through a circular lens, which made it look like you were watching the entire thing through a telescope.

According to the Desert Sun, more than 10,000 people attended the service.  According to E!, the guests included Kanye’s wife Kim Kardashian, daughter North West, sisters-in law Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner, mother-in-law Kris Jenner and Lala Anthony.

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