Lauryn Hill’s set at the 2025 Essence Festival wrapped up in the early hours of the morning — nearly emptying out the Caesars Superdome in the process.
According to Nola, Hill didn’t take the stage until around 2:30 AM, with her performance ending at 3:37 AM. The massive delay was reportedly due to earlier sets running over and Hill being added to an already packed lineup.
By the time she finally hit the stage, the once-crowded venue — which holds up to 83,000 people — had dwindled down to just a few hundred fans still in attendance.
Despite the late hour, Lauryn Hill made sure her Essence Festival performance was worth the wait.
Once she finally hit the stage around 2:30 AM, Hill embraced the intimate vibe, chatting with the remaining fans between songs and even taking requests. One fan asked her to perform “I Gotta Find Peace of Mind” from her 2002 live album MTV Unplugged No. 2.0, to which she responded, “I can do a little snippet. We didn’t rehearse that.”
She also brought out her sons, Zion Marley and Joshua Marley, to perform with her, adding a personal touch to the night. In another off-script moment, Hill sang “Tell Him” and admitted to relying on a fan in the crowd for the lyrics: “Sister, I was watching you for the lyrics,” she said with a laugh.
While the extreme delay wasn’t on her, Hill has long had a reputation for tardiness. In fact, she addressed it head-on during a 2023 show in Los Angeles, where she clapped back at critics.
“Yo, y’all lucky I make it on this blood ras stage every night,” she told the audience. “I don’t do it because they let me do it. I do it because I stand here in the name of God and I do it. God is the one who allows me to do it, who surrounded me with family and community when there was no support.”
She continued, “When the album sold so many records, and no one showed up and said, ‘Hey, would you like to make another one?’ So I went around the world, and I played the same album over and over and over and over again. Because we are survivors, and we’re not just survivors — we’re thrivers.”
