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Watch Hayley Williams Bring Out Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman, Jenny Lewis at Newport Folk Festival
Hayley Williams headlined Friday night at the Newport Folk Festival 2026 with a set billed as "Hayley Williams & Friends," living up to the name by bringing out a string of guests including Wednesday's Karly Hartzman, Jenny Lewis, Jack Antonoff, Lucy Dacus and several others. The stripped-down performance fitted the festival's format of established artists reworking their material in intimate collaborative sets, and gave the Paramore singer a rare chance to perform songs live that had missed their original touring window.
The show opened with the title track from her new solo album, Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, with guests joining for individual songs, including Hartzman on "Mirtazapine" and Antonoff on "Good Ol' Days". Williams also debuted songs from her 2020 and 2021 solo records live for the first time, having had touring plans scrapped by the Covid-19 pandemic, while Lewis joined for a cover of Rilo Kiley's "Silver Lining" and the set closed with a mass sing-along of Bill Withers' "Lean on Me".
In short
- Hayley Williams headlined Newport Folk Festival with a star-studded guest set.
- Wednesday's Karly Hartzman, Jenny Lewis, Jack Antonoff, Lucy Dacus among guests.
- Set included solo album tracks, Covid-delayed songs, and covers.
Explained simply
The Newport Folk Festival is an annual American music festival founded in 1959, renowned for hosting intimate acoustic performances and artist collaborations rather than large-scale concerts. The festival attracts established musicians from various genres who use the format to reimagine their material alongside fellow performers. It serves as a significant platform for artistic experimentation within folk and broader popular music.
Hayley Williams is best known as the lead singer of Paramore, an alternative rock band that achieved widespread success beginning in the 2000s. In addition to her work with the band, Williams has released her own solo albums, pursuing independent artistic projects. Her solo records explore different musical territory to that of her primary band.
Williams' solo material had largely not been performed live before a general audience due to touring schedules being disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Newport Folk Festival format, which emphasises intimate collaborative performances, provided an opportunity to present these songs in that setting alongside other artists. This kind of platform is significant for musicians whose work hasn't had the chance to reach audiences through conventional touring.
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