Apple’s Mysterious Rainbow Stage May Feature Lady Gaga for Apple Park Opening

Earlier this month, a drone pilot discovered a new massive “rainbow” event stage right in the middle of the courtyard of Apple’s massive ring-shaped Apple Park campus. While the appearance of the stage launched no small amount of speculation among Apple fans as to exactly what it would be for, most just assumed it was probably for an internal employee event, since the campus isn’t normally open to visitors.

Later information surfaced that Apple was actually closing down the visitor’s centre on May 17 (today) which led to speculation that this was when the internal event would be hosted. However, more recently Jony Ive reportedly told employees that it’s actually part of an official tribute to Steve Jobs to accompany the official opening of the Apple Park Campus this week.

In a leaked piece from Apple’s internal employee site, Jony Ive explained the two reasons why the rainbow design was chosen: to make it immediately recognizable as an Apple Stage and hearkening back to the original Apple rainbow logo that was part of the company’s identity for many years.

Our goal was to create a stage that would become immediately recognizable as the Apple Stage. The idea for the rainbow was one of those rare occasions where the earliest thoughts worked on a number of different fronts.

Jony Ive, Chief Design Officer, Apple

The stage also looks deceptively simple, with 9to5Mac reporting that it’s actually made up to 25,000 parts and an aluminum frame that has been custom designed with parts individually rolled by a machinist over a 12-day period. In fact, due to the custom process, the resulting parts were so fragile that Apple also had to build custom carts to transport them. We don’t exactly want to speculate on how much that cost, but we can only imagine it was quite a bit.

Although the stage will apparently be dismantled after the event, it’s said to be designed for re-use, so it’s not a one-time expense and could certainly make a reappearance at other Apple events.

Performances

Now with the main event scheduled to take place tomorrow, rumours have surfaced that Apple will be bringing in none other than Lady Gaga as one of the headline performers. The reports, however, come from a fan and are entirely unconfirmed, so they should be taken with a grain of salt, and as 9to5Mac also notes, Lady Gaga would be a strange choice for Apple, which traditionally prides itself on being a “family-friendly” company — kind of the very opposite of the singer-songwriter’s performing style.

It’s unclear as well whether Apple only has a single headline performer in mind, or whether it might invite a few artists to attend, although the notorious secrecy for which Apple is known means we probably won’t find out until after the event occurs. It’s been suggested that Beyoncé could be a potential headline act for the concert, as she has been involved in a number of Apple promos over the years, but there’s certainly no shortage of other talent with which Apple has very tight relationships, ranging from U2 and Drake to the various acts that have performed at Apple’s other special events in the past, including Sia, Walk the Moon, OneRepublic, and Panic at the Disco.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]