Lauryn Hill surprises audience at 2024 Reggae Festival

Audiences at the 2024 Reggae Festival were treated to an unexpected surprise when legendary singer Lauryn Hill took to the stage to perform alongside her son YG Marley.

Hill’s appearance wowed the crowd at Montego Bay’s Catherine Hall Entertainment Centre on Friday night and marked a historic moment for the festival.

She sang her own single Predecessor Factor and The Lostalso Killing me softly, Where to find itand ready or Nother hit from her Fugees days, drew screams and applause from the audience. Of course, her performance wouldn’t be complete without singing her lyrics Turn Your Lights Down Low by reggae icon and her son’s grandfather Bob Marley.Hill is an additional act for the 31st edition of the festival, which runs over seven days.

Although Hill has recently collaborated with YG on two shows at Coachella and BET Awardsbut has not confirmed a Reggae Sumfest performance. For years, Reggae Sumfest has tried to convince Hill to perform, but their efforts have never come to fruition—until now.

“We’ve been trying to get her to perform for years and we just couldn’t get her to perform. Tonight is historic,” said Robert Russell, vice president of the Reggae Festival. “The crowd went crazy. We were expecting her to perform. We had word that she was going to perform. But it wasn’t confirmed yet, so we couldn’t promote it. I knew in my heart that she was going to perform. She wouldn’t see this many people and not perform.”

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YG opened the show with original songs including meant to be and Survive and invited dancehall artist Jahshii to perform his hit songs on stage, Born Fighterand his brother Zion Marley. He sang his hits at the end of the show Praising Jehovah in the Moonlight.

YG Marley’s debut single has also now been certified Gold in the US (500,000 units) and UK, and Platinum in Canada (80,000 units) and New Zealand (30,000 units).