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Hayley Williams headlined the Newport Folk Festival on July 24, 2026, delivering a 16-song collaborative set at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island, that featured guest appearances by Jack Antonoff, Lucy Dacus, and Jenny Lewis. The performance, billed as “Hayley Williams & Friends,” opened with “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party” from her 2025 album and closed with a group cover of Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me.”
Collaborations With Jack Antonoff and Lucy Dacus
During the Fort Adams set, Williams welcomed Jack Antonoff to the stage to perform “I Wanna Get Better,” the 2014 debut single by his band Bleachers. Antonoff also joined Williams on guitar for her song “Good Ol’ Days.” The pair harmonized on vocals and shared a stage embrace before launching into the Bleachers track.
Williams later performed “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris” live for the first time, accompanied by Lucy Dacus. Dacus, a member of the group Boygenius alongside Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers, originally sang background vocals on the track from Williams’ 2020 solo album Petals for Armor. Dacus also performed a separate set on the Fort Stage earlier that Friday.
Surprise Appearance by Jenny Lewis
In a surprise moment captured by concertgoers at the front of the crowd, Williams brought out Jenny Lewis to cover Rilo Kiley’s “Silver Lining” from the band’s 2007 album Under the Blacklight. Williams joined the singer-songwriter on vocals starting at the third verse, singing lines including, “And the grass it was a-ticking / And the sun was on the rise.”
The “Hayley Williams & Friends” set also featured guest appearances by Karly Hartzman, This Is Lorelei, Joy Oladokun, Liam Benzvi, Annie DiRusso, Kelsey Lu, Remi Wolf, Phoenix Rousiamanis, and Madi Diaz. Following the performance, the Newport Folk Festival shared an image slideshow of the collaborative set on Instagram.
Festival Schedule and Weekend Lineup
Friday night’s festival schedule at Fort Adams State Park also included a headlining performance by Ms. Lauryn Hill. The historic Newport Folk Festival continued through the weekend with scheduled performances by artists including The Lumineers, Nathaniel Rateliff, Brandi Carlile, Brandon Flowers, and Tom Morello.
Worth a look