Lauryn Hill played to a largely empty stadium on Friday night as part of the 2025 Essence Festival of Culture, after taking the stage hours after scheduled.
While Hill has a bit of a reputation for late shows, this time it appeared out of her hands as Essence’s first day as a whole started late on Friday. Hill had been added to the lineup days prior — with the rest of Friday’s lineup including GloRilla, the Isley Brothers, Babyface and Maxwell. Coco Jones, who also stars on the Peacock show Bel-Air, was an unannounced performer. Singer Lucky Daye and Kandi Burruss’ girl group, Psiryn, were also early performers.
GloRilla ended her set when The Isley Brothers had been scheduled to end theirs, forcing the group to start at Babyface’s original time. After the Isleys’ hour, Babyface didn’t start until after midnight, with the the 19-time Grammy winner digging into his substantial songwriting catalogue delivering renditions of hits that included Bobby Brown (“Don’t Be Cruel,” “Every Little Step I Take”), Boys II Men (“I’ll Make Love to You,” “End of the Road”), TLC (“Baby-Baby-Baby,” “Red Light Special”), The Whispers (“Rock Steady”) and Toni Braxton (“Another Sad Love Song,” “Love Shoulda Brought You Home” from the film Boomerang).
Maxwell began performing mere minutes before 1 a.m. After delivering several of his hits from his debut album, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite, the “Fortunate” singer cut his set short. Not long after Maxwell’s exit, Kenny Burns, an Essence Festival emcee, announced that Hill was in the building. As multiple workers took the stage to change the setup for the beloved star’s performance, time kept ticking away. Even as the stage appeared equipped for a performance, the delay continued. Technical difficulties were only announced about five to 10 minutes before Hill was announced to be finally coming to the stage.
“Family is family and around here we protect our own no matter what the PEOPLE have to say,” Essence Festival wrote in a statement on Instagram Sunday. “She arrived on schedule,” the fest continued, taking responsibility for the delay and defending Hill. “Let’s be very clear— WE don’t play about Ms. Lauryn Hill. She stepped on that stage, and delivered the kind of performance only a legend can. The delay? Not hers. We will take that. The moment? One for the books. The legacy? Still unmatched.”
While some fans were giving her grief online over the late start, several others came to her defense.
Fans who stuck around for Hill’s performance got a treat. A robust band of more than 10 members played as Black history montages filled the background screens. Hill emerged in a blue polka dot full-length dress wearing a gele atop her head and a low-hanging statement necklace showcasing what appeared to be fertility figurines.
While Hill rarely performs songs as arranged on her critically acclaimed The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, the sped-up versions she typically opts for live landed exceptionally well. Her rendition of “Ex-Factor” packed an emotional punch. So did “To Zion.”
Hill’s voice was fierce and clear as she subtly recounted the pressures she faced within the music industry not to carry her first child. “Essence Festival — 27, 28 years ago, I sang that song about this young man right here. I need you to make some noise for Zion Marley. Come on!” she commanded.
After Zion performed a couple of songs, Hill resumed in extremely personable fashion. She later brought out another of her sons, YG Marley, and demanded the audience give him a proper greeting. He rewarded them with a robust but brief performance of reggae songs like his hit “Marching to Freedom,” reminiscent in tone of those of his iconic grandfather Bob Marley. Hill returned after his performance with even more force, delivering an impassioned rendition of “Killing Me Softly With His Song” in tribute to Roberta Flack, as photographs of the iconic singer who died in February flashed behind her.
Asking for permission to do one more song, Hill issued a request to the crowd, declaring that “I need y’all to get low, come on,” before asking for the Fugees fans in the venue and performing their hit “Fu-Gee-La,” amazingly high-spirited as she rhymed furiously and only making the song truly recognizable with the “Fu-la-la” chorus.
“Thank you. Good night y’all. God bless you,” Hill said as she ended the show in the early morning. It was arguably one of her best performances in recent memory, and she delivered it as if the house was packed, even as only the very faithful few remained.