Rising pop singer Nessa Barrett drops out of Summerfest in Milwaukee after death of 'best friend' Cooper Noriega

Rising pop artist Nessa Barrett will no longer be headlining Summerfest on Thursday.

She announced on Instagram Sunday that she was dropping out of the Milwaukee music festival so she had "time to heal" following the death of her "best friend," fellow popular TikTok creator Cooper Noriega. Noriega, 19, was found dead June 9 in Los Angeles.  A cause of death has not been revealed.

"I'm so sorry I can't be at Summerfest next week," Barrett, also 19, wrote on Instagram Stories. "I am just not ready to get back on the stage. ... I hope u all can understand."

While not referencing Noriega's death explicitly in her post about Summerfest, an Instagram post two weeks ago illustrates how deeply his passing had affected her.

"I’ve been trying to understand how life could possibly still have meaning with u gone," Barrett wrote in part. "A part of me died with u. but what’s left of me is going to live for u."

Barrett also released a song June 24, "die first," that she dedicated to Noriega.

Rising pop artist Nessa Barrett has bowed out of Summerfest 2022 so she can take "time to heal" following the death of her "best friend," fellow TikTok star Cooper Noriega, earlier this month.
Rising pop artist Nessa Barrett has bowed out of Summerfest 2022 so she can take "time to heal" following the death of her "best friend," fellow TikTok star Cooper Noriega, earlier this month.

Initially, Barrett had been booked to open for Willow, the daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, on June 30 at the Generac Power Stage. Last week, Summerfest announced that Willow had dropped out of the lineup, and that Barrett would close the stage instead.

Now that Barrett, too, has dropped out, rising pop artist Gayle, who was most recently scheduled to open for Barrett, has moved into the 9:30 p.m. slot. Gayle had a huge breakout song this year with "abcdefu."

Royal & the Serpent will now take over Gayle's slot at 8 p.m., with an updated schedule for the stage available at summerfest.com.

Barrett is the fifth headliner this year to drop out of the Milwaukee music festival, which just wrapped up its first weekend. It will continue Thursday through July 2 and July 7 to 9.

Justin Bieber had to postpone his American Family Insurance Amphitheater show June 24 due to ongoing facial paralysis from Ramsay Hunt syndrome. A new date has yet to be announced.

Ann Wilson dropped out of a Saturday night performance following positive COVID cases in her band and crew. (Steve Miller Band did a second night performance in her place.) 10,000 Maniacs also pulled out of a June 30 performance citing COVID concerns; Freddy Jones Band has replaced them for 4:15 p.m. at the Miller Lite Oasis.

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Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nessa Barrett drops out of Summerfest after death of Cooper Noriega