Footage has surfaced of Lauryn Hill delivering an impromptu performance at a Columbia High School reunion party in Maplewood, New Jersey earlier this month. Watch it below.
Surrounded by her former classmates, Hill performed a handful of tracks, including solo hits like ‘Ex-Factor’, ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’, and ‘Lost Ones’ as well as the Fugees classic ‘Ready Or Not’.
The clips emerged three weeks after news broke that her US tour with the Fugees had been cancelled for the third consecutive year.
In 2021, the Fugees announced they would set out on a reunion tour to celebrate 25 years of their classic album, ‘The Score’, which was later cancelled due to Covid-19. Last year, the group embarked on a tour of Hill’s seminal album, ‘The Miseducation of Ms. Lauryn Hill’. However, the tour was cut short due to Hill suffering from vocal strain.
This year’s 18-date tour across the US with the Fugees was once again in celebration of ‘The Miseducation of Ms. Lauryn Hill'. However, on 6th August, just three days before the North American leg of the tour was to start in Tampa, Florida, Ticketmaster contacted ticketholders to inform them the tour was cancelled. At present, tickets for dates in the UK and Europe remain on sale.
In a statement shared to Pitchfork in August, Hill took aim at “the media outlet’s penchant for sensationalism and clickbait headlines”, which she says resulted in a “narrative that has affected ticket sales”. According to Hill, she “faced an injury that necessitated the rescheduling of some of my shows”, though she did not specify what the injury was at the time.
Hill has built up a reputation for being late on stage and regularly cancelling shows throughout her career. In November last year she was criticised after a video emerged of her telling fans they’re lucky she turns up at all.
This March, Ms. Lauryn Hill was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame alongside Donna Summer and De La Soul.
In 2021, Ms. Lauryn Hill became the first female MC to receive a diamond certification from The Recording Industry Association (RIAA) of America for 'The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill'.