Florence Welch was joined on stage by Hayley Williams and Rachel Zegler at the 11th annual New York Ally Coalition Talent Show. Watch the moment below.
- READ MORE: Florence + The Machine – ‘Everybody Scream’ review: a communal exorcism of familiar pain
Jack Antonoff hosted the 11th edition of the intimate star-studded fundraising gig for The Ally Coalition, the non-profit organisation he created with his sister Rachel, which supports at-risk LGBTQ+ youth, at NYU’s Skirball Center in NYC.
Williams was among the performers, who are never announced in advance, taking to the stage to play ‘Kill Me’ and ‘Good Ol’ Days’ from her Grammy-nominated new solo album, ‘Ego Death at the Bachelorette Party‘.
Later, she returned to step into a backing vocal role, alongside Zegler, while Welch performed Florence + The Machine‘s ‘Dog Days Are Over’.
Zegler also appeared on her own to perform a cover of Joni Mitchell‘s ‘River’, while Williams also joined Bleachers for ‘Merry Christmas, Please Don’t Call’, which is the traditional closing track at all of Antonoff’s benefit shows.
Watch below.
Last year’s edition of the show saw surprise performances from Bleachers, Sabrina Carpenter, Remi Wolf and more. The year prior, Clairo, St. Vincent and Jason Isbell were among those taking to the stage.
Williams’ performance comes after she and Antonoff took aim at the large corporations trying to “monopolise” live music during their recent interview for Rolling Stone’s musicians-on-musicians series.
Williams pointed to major ticketing companies leeching off the live music scene and how, in turn, this has led to financial issues for smaller venues. “[It’s] killing me,” she told Antonoff. “My favourite street in Nashville has been just obliterated.”
In other news, Florence + The Machine recently released their new album ‘Everybody Scream’, which was met with a five-star review from NME, which described the project as “a tempestuous record, one that stays with you longer than the rage and anguish which, here, is as fleeting, yet deeply magical, as the changing seasons”.
Williams’ 2025 album also received a glowing five-star review, in which NME wrote: “As with almost every era of Hayley Williams’ career, this new release has come with questions about the future of Paramore. The determined lyrics on the tender ‘I Won’t Quit On You’ should be all the reassurance worried fans need, but if that’s not enough, there’s plenty in this brilliant, swaggering new chapter to be excited about.
“These songs might be about missed second chances, but Williams is certainly making the most of hers.”
The record also landed on NME‘s 50 Best Albums of 2025 list. In it Number 9, the entry read: “Cathartic and profoundly personal, ‘Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party’ at times plays out like a peek into Hayley Williams’ therapy sessions. Now unshackled from a decades-long record deal, the Paramore leader has made a kaleidoscopic third album that’s her most creative and vital work yet.”
