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Newport Folk Festival 2026 kicked off its weekend-long run of folk musicians and figures across rock, hip-hop, and beyond doing stripped-down sets. Friday night\u2019s headliner was billed as Hayley Williams<\/a> & Friends; sure enough, the Paramore<\/a> singer-songwriter bring out a star-studded list of pals to warrant that name, including Wednesday<\/a>\u2019s Karly Hartzman<\/a>, Jenny Lewis<\/a>, Jack Antonoff<\/a>, Lucy Dacus<\/a>, and many more. Watch videos from Williams\u2019 set below.<\/p>\n After opening with the title track from her new solo album Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party<\/em><\/a>, Williams played a number of other tracks from the album with various guest: Hartzman came out for \u201cMirtazapine,\u201d Antonoff played guitar and sang to \u201cGood Ol\u2019 Days,\u201d Annie DiRusso joined her for \u201cDisappearing Man,\u201d and Phoenix Rousiamanis hopped on \u201cTrue Believer.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams also gave a number of songs from 2020\u2019s Petals for Armor<\/em><\/a> and 2021\u2019s Flowers for Vases \/ Descansos<\/em><\/a> their live debut, as her original tour plans to support those solo albums were scrapped due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Kelsey Lu sang on \u201cLeave It Alone\u201d before Dacus came out to join them for \u201cRoses\/Lotus\/Violet\/Iris,\u201d the studio version of which she sings backup vocals on<\/a>. Later, Lu and Madi Diaz sang \u201cFind Me Here\u201d alongside Williams, too.<\/p>\n A chunk of Williams\u2019 headlining set was used to cover songs by her friends as well. Lewis came out to sing Rilo Kiley\u2019s \u201cSilver Lining\u201d with Williams and her band, This Is Lorelei joined for \u201cI\u2019m All Fucked Up,\u201d Joy Oladokun sang her song \u201cI\u2019d Miss the Birds,\u201d and Antonoff broke out \u201cI Wanna Get Better\u201d to big cheers. Plus, Remi Wolf debuted her new song \u201cTwiggy Little Butt\u201d with Williams, as did Liam Benzvi with his track \u201cThin Air.\u201d The set concluded with a huge group sing-along to Bill Withers\u2019 classic \u201cLean on Me.\u201d<\/p>\n Revisit Quinn Moreland\u2019s essay Paramore\u2019s Influence Is All Around Us<\/a>.<\/p>\n