AT A GLANCE
- ESSENCE Fest 2026 showed signs of a major rebound after widespread criticism of the 2025 festival over delays, pricing, access and production issues.
- Babyface emerged as one of Saturday night’s biggest standouts, delivering a hit-filled set that included a moving performance of “A Song for Mama.”
- Brandy and Monica closed Saturday’s concert with a nostalgia-heavy joint set featuring family moments, costume changes and a Michael Jackson tribute.
- Sunday’s Missy Elliott-curated Aaliyah tribute became a weekend high point, featuring Mya, Ryan Destiny, Normani, Chlöe and Sevyn Streeter.
- The comeback comes as former Essence Ventures CEO Caroline Wanga pursues a defamation claim tied to the public fallout surrounding the troubled 2025 festival.
ESSENCE Fest R&B Concert Marks a Major Rebound as Babyface, Brandy, Monica and Aaliyah Tribute Deliver
Saturday night at the ESSENCE Festival of Culture was not designed for anyone watching the clock.
There was still a noticeable delay inside New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome, and the second night of the festival’s Evening Concert Series stretched deep into the night. But unlike the frustration that came to define much of last year’s festival, the wait this time came with a payoff.
A big one.
By the time Brandy and Monica finally arrived for the closing set, the crowd had already watched Leon Thomas turn his performance into a musicianship showcase, Patti LaBelle check her makeup in front of thousands of people, and Babyface remind everyone how much of the soundtrack to our lives belongs to him.
And perhaps just as importantly for ESSENCE, the night felt like evidence of a festival finding its footing again after a bruising 2025.
Last year’s ESSENCE Fest drew heavy criticism over pricing, access, production quality and significant concert delays. One of the weekend’s most notorious moments came when Lauryn Hill did not begin her closing set until roughly 2:30 a.m. after the program fell far behind schedule. ESSENCE later publicly acknowledged criticism and promised to listen and improve.
That history matters because the fallout from 2025 has not entirely disappeared.
Former Essence Ventures CEO Caroline Wanga filed a defamation claim in June against Essence Ventures and parent company Sundial Media & Technology Group, alleging they failed to correct a public narrative that tied her to decisions surrounding the troubled 2025 festival. According to Wanga’s complaint, she had already stepped away from the role and was not involved in planning or operating that year’s event. ESSENCE and Sundial have rejected the allegations as false and said they intend to defend themselves.
Against that backdrop, 2026 had something to prove.
Saturday delivered a deep R&B lineup led by Babyface, Brandy, Monica, Patti LaBelle and Leon Thomas. Then Sunday followed with one of the festival’s strongest emotional moments: a Missy Elliott-curated tribute to Aaliyah featuring Mya, Ryan Destiny, Normani, Chlöe and Sevyn Streeter.
The nights were still long. Some sequencing choices were uneven. But 2026 felt far closer to what people expect ESSENCE Fest to be: ambitious, culturally specific, emotionally resonant and genuinely good.
Leon Thomas Shows There Is Much More Behind ‘MUTT’
Leon Thomas used his early Saturday set to make one thing clear: he is far more than the voice behind his breakout hit “MUTT.”
Thomas tore through an intense guitar solo during the song before surprising the audience again by jumping behind the drums for “SNEAK.”
The moment felt like a glimpse of the kind of artist Thomas is becoming in real time. Vocally, musically and aesthetically, there were flashes of a young D’Angelo in the performance. But the guitar and drum solos also made clear that Thomas is developing a lane of his own, one where musicianship matters just as much as the records.
It was one of the first signs that the weekend would not be built entirely on nostalgia.
Then came Patti LaBelle.
At 82, the icon was exactly as Patti LaBelle as anyone could hope.
She paused to check her makeup onstage and even showed the Superdome her mirror before returning to the business of singing.
Her set included “Somebody Loves You Baby,” “Lady Marmalade” and “The Right Kinda Lover,” along with a blend of Nelly and Kelly Rowland’s “Dilemma” and her own classic “If Only You Knew.”
Philadelphia musician Jeff Bradshaw joined LaBelle onstage, bringing his signature trombone sound to the performance. Her band also slipped into T.I.’s 2026 single “Let ’Em Know,” proving LaBelle had no intention of allowing her set to become a museum piece.
Hollywood, Politics and a First Look at ‘The Greatest’
The music briefly gave way to Hollywood when cast members from Prime Video’s upcoming Muhammad Ali series, “The Greatest,” appeared onstage to present a first look at the project.
Omari Hardwick, who plays Ali’s father, was absent, but Michael Ealy’s arrival was enough to send plenty of women in the Superdome into a screaming fit.
Ealy plays Malcolm X in the series opposite newcomer Jaalen Best as Muhammad Ali. Prime Video announced Saturday that “The Greatest” will premiere Nov. 4.
Later, Rev. Al Sharpton turned the stage into something closer to a rally.
Sharpton urged the audience to vote before paying tribute to his late mentor, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and leading thousands in Jackson’s famous call: “Keep hope alive.”
Jackson, who died in February, helped shape Sharpton’s path in activism after appointing him youth director of Operation Breadbasket when Sharpton was still a teenager.
But Babyface may have been the night’s biggest show-stealer.
Babyface Reminds ESSENCE Fest How Deep His Catalog Runs
Babyface worked through hit after hit from a catalog stacked with No. 1 records and songs he helped create for other artists.
His set included a tribute to Whitney Houston, but one of the night’s most emotional moments came during “A Song for Mama,” the Boyz II Men classic he wrote and produced.
As Babyface sang, images of beloved real and fictional Black mothers appeared onscreen, including Michelle Obama, Coretta Scott King, Florida Evans from “Good Times,” Phylicia Rashad and Big Mama from “Soul Food.”
It was simple, emotional and incredibly effective.
For an audience that had already spent hours inside the Superdome, the performance became a reminder of just how much of the R&B songbook Babyface helped shape.
His set did not need to make the argument loudly.
The songs did it for him.
Then, finally, came Brandy and Monica.
Brandy and Monica Turn Decades of Competition Into Celebration
The joint set initially leaned into a chessboard theme, visually playing with the competition that has followed the women for nearly three decades.
But by the second half, the show opened into something warmer and more celebratory.
Brandy delivered a dramatic tribute to Michael Jackson with “Earth Song,” joined onstage by Ashley Everett, the former Beyoncé dance captain who spent years as one of the superstar’s most recognizable dancers.
Family was part of the show, too.
Monica’s daughter, Laiyah, came out to dance as the stadium erupted to Yung Miami’s viral “Spend Dat,” while Brandy’s daughter, Sy’rai, was also present. Brandy’s vocals received additional support from June’s Diary, who sang backup for her.
There were multiple costume changes, plenty of hits and enough nostalgia to carry the crowd through the late hour.
The night still tested everyone’s patience. ESSENCE Fest has apparently not discovered a cure for running late.
But this was not 2025 all over again.
That distinction matters.
Missy Elliott-Curated Aaliyah Tribute Becomes a Weekend High Point
If Saturday suggested ESSENCE Fest was rebounding, Sunday made the argument even stronger.
The final night moved across generations and genres, from George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic to Doug E. Fresh’s all-star set, Public Enemy, comedy and T.I. backed by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.
But the emotional center of the night belonged to Aaliyah.
Curated by Missy Elliott, “Aaliyah: One in a Million, Forever” marked 30 years since the singer’s landmark “One in a Million” album while honoring her longstanding connection to ESSENCE Fest. Aaliyah performed at the festival’s inaugural event in 1995 while still a teenager.
Mya opened the tribute with “Back & Forth,” wearing an oversized red leather warm-up suit while perched atop a basketball hoop, a clear visual reference to the gym setting and streetwear of Aaliyah’s 1994 debut video.
Ryan Destiny, Normani, Chlöe and Sevyn Streeter followed, each taking on songs from Aaliyah’s catalog while incorporating elements of her choreography and signature style.
Ryan Destiny performed “If Your Girl Only Knew.” Normani handled “Try Again” and “Rock the Boat.” Chlöe took on songs including “Are You That Somebody?” while Sevyn Streeter delivered “4 Page Letter.”
Mya later returned for “At Your Best (You Are Love),” one of the tribute’s smartest pairings. Her lighter register captured the softness of Aaliyah’s version without sacrificing the vocal identity audiences have associated with Mya for nearly three decades.
The tribute worked because the performers did not appear to be trying to become Aaliyah.
The styling honored her. The choreography was sharp. The vocals were strong. But each woman remained recognizable as herself, allowing the performance to feel like a celebration rather than an imitation.
Elliott, who was close to Aaliyah and collaborated extensively with her, paused the performance to reflect on her late friend.
Video messages followed from Ciara, T-Boz, Janet Jackson, Timbaland, Ginuwine, Monica and Queen Latifah before all five performers reunited for the finale.
By then, the tribute had become one of the emotional high points of the entire weekend.
And for a festival trying to recover from a year when audiences openly questioned the execution, timing and value of the experience, that kind of moment mattered.
Most importantly, it felt worthy of the artists and history being celebrated.
A Festival That Needed a Rebound Finally Looked Like It Found One
Sunday offered other major moments.
Doug E. Fresh dedicated his performance to the late Rob Base before turning the Superdome into a revolving door of Black music history. Scarface, MC Lyte, Tevin Campbell, Too $hort and Marvin Sapp were among the artists who appeared during the sprawling set.
George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic opened the evening with full P-Funk spectacle, while T.I. closed in a black tuxedo backed by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Songs including “What You Know” and “Whatever You Like” were expanded with live strings and orchestral arrangements.
Public Enemy’s more traditional set followed Doug E. Fresh’s surprise-heavy showcase and felt comparatively static. Kountry Wayne’s comedy appearance created another abrupt tonal shift, while the Superdome’s acoustics made parts of the set difficult to follow.
The larger question hanging over ESSENCE Fest 2026 was whether the festival could recover from the criticism surrounding the previous year.
Over two nights in the Superdome, there was finally a convincing answer.
Babyface nearly stole Saturday. Brandy and Monica made a long wait worthwhile. Leon Thomas showed where R&B may be headed next. Patti LaBelle remained gloriously herself. Doug E. Fresh reminded the building what a true master of ceremonies can do. And five women came together to give Aaliyah her flowers in a tribute rooted not only in nostalgia, but in ESSENCE Fest’s own history.
A year after the festival faced widespread criticism and later promised to listen, evolve and improve, 2026 felt richer in talent, clearer in purpose and far more satisfying in execution.
The delays did not completely disappear. Neither did every production problem.
But this was not last year.
For ESSENCE Fest, that may have been the most important performance of all.
The festival needed a rebound.
This year, it finally looked like it got one.
