Lauryn Hill took the stage at the Essence Festival in New Orleans in the early hours of July 5, starting her performance at 2:30 a.m. due to the festival lineup running behind schedule. With a sparse audience in the 83,000-seat Superdome, Hill still engaged with the small crowd, took requests, and performed alongside her sons – Zion Marley, 27, and Joshua “YG” Marley, 23 – before concluding her set at 3:37 a.m. Videos of the near-empty stadium circulated on social media, prompting fans to defend the singer while absolving her of responsibility for the late start. Hill was a late addition to an already overcrowded lineup – which also featured Maxwell, Babyface, the Isley Brothers, and GloRilla – with the evening running behind schedule from the start, with some acts finishing their set an hour after the next performers were scheduled to begin. The Essence Festival 2025 concluded on Sunday (July 6), featuring a lineup including Boyz II Men, Master P, NAS, and Doug E Fresh. (People)
