The Gospel According To Kanye West Could Be Coming To A Field Near You

If Coachella was Kanye West’s experiment to see if his Sunday Service – a unique mix of an evangelical Christian church group and a showcase of his hit music – could make the leap to the masses, it definitely succeeded. The event was last week’s must-see set at Coachella, the annual two-weekend festival which this year was headlined by Ariana Grande and featured a surprise appearance from Justin Bieber.

‘Kanye is thrilled with the results,’ a source tells Grazia. ‘It’s inspired him to think about global expansion, and he wants London to be the first stop. He imagines gathering followers in a field in the British countryside before the summer is out.’

A return to English soil would have the secondary bonus of rectifying what he considers a professional lowlight – a ‘messed up’ Glastonbury set in 2015 that, he later said, left him feeling ‘depressed’.

Organisers calculate that his Coachella set was watched by 50,000 people – a quarter of all festival-goers and half of all those present over that second weekend – a particularly impressive feat considering that Kanye chose to hold it in the morning, before the grounds usually open. Among the audience was Kim and Kanye’s five-year-old daughter North, who danced and sang along. Many of Kim’s family were also present, including model Kendall and momager Kris Jenner, as well as Hailey Bieber and actor and musician Donald Glover.

Cait, a brand consultant who attended Coachella’s Sunday Service, was among the crowds separated from the A-list by barriers, but she tells Grazia she was won over by Kanye’s approach to spirituality. ‘There was gospel and prayer, but it felt more like a celebration of ourselves and a new way of bringing people closer,’ she says. ‘Like a political rally, almost, but for faith.’

Another attendee compared the service to a memorable scene from Sister Act, when a contemporary, music-heavy approach to faith brought cool young faces into the church, and Cait says it’s this atmosphere that could give it international success. ‘I think a lot of people see going to church as really conservative and boring. But this was the total opposite, and that feels like it would be universal.’

Kanye is said to have been inspired by the success of Hillsong, an evangelical group founded in Australia. ‘Kanye wants it to be bigger than Hillsong,’ a source says. The success of the Coachella event suggests he may get his wish, and it could prove lucrative. The queues to purchase the Sunday Service merchandise – a pair of socks cost $50 – snaked through the sun-soaked field, with fashion a key element of the concept. ‘To Kanye, fashion is religion,’ our source says. Previous meetings have come with dress codes. ‘Kanye has a very clear design aesthetic he wants people to stick to,’ they explain. ‘Everyone must wear clothes in a neutral tone, preferably from his own custom line.’

With this enforced ‘uniform’ and the images of Kanye raised above the crowds with his arms spread, there have been comparisons with a cult (kult?). But Kanye and Kim remain unfazed. ‘They don’t care what anyone says, so long as people keep showing up,’ a source explains. ‘They love seeing everyone lining up outside their door, and although Kim and Kanye are very different people, this is something that makes them both happy. It’s like they’re throwing the most exclusive party around each week and everyone wants an invite.’ In fact, it comes at great personal cost: ‘Kanye has pumped $10m of his own money into it so far. He hardly sleeps at the moment because he’s so hyped up by it.

Look inside Kim and Kanye's bizarrely empty house below...