Lucy Dacus brought out The Killers’ Brandon Flowers for a cover of Jim Croce’s ‘Time In A Bottle’ during her set at Newport Folk Festival – watch footage below.
Dacus played a solo set at the Rhode Island festival on Friday (July 24), with Flowers joining her as the final surprise guest of the set.
Introducing him as “Mr. Killers himself”, Dacus welcomed the frontman to the stage before the pair delivered a stripped-back rendition of the 1972 ballad, which Dacus recorded for the expanded edition of her fourth album, ‘Forever Is A Feeling‘.
Following the performance, Dacus told the crowd: “Y’all are going to have to pinch me.”
Check out footage of the cover below.
@blondie210 #lucydacus #brandonflowers #thekillers #newportfolk
♬ original sound – Madi 💕
Flowers was one of several guests to appear during Dacus’ Newport set. Hayley Williams joined her for ‘Bullseye’, which features Hozier on the studio version, while Madi Diaz appeared for a performance of ‘Heavy Metal’.
Dacus had earlier made a guest appearance during Williams’ own star-studded set at the festival, joining the Paramore singer alongside Jack Antonoff, Jenny Lewis, Remi Wolf, Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman and Joy Oladokun.
The collaboration with Flowers came after Dacus joined The Killers on stage at Osheaga Festival in Montreal last August for a rendition of ‘Read My Mind’. Dacus later asked fans to share their footage of the performance, writing: “I wish I had a video of the whole thing, that was one of the best moments of my life.”
Boygenius had previously covered ‘Read My Mind’ during their early live shows, with Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker releasing a performance of the track in 2018.
Dacus released ‘Forever Is A Feeling’ in March 2025. In a four-star review, NME wrote that the record saw her “dive headlong into love”, adding that she had captured “the rush, terror and total surrender of giving yourself over to another person”.
She shared her first new music of 2026 in April with ‘Planting Tomatoes’, which had originally been released as an exclusive seven-inch for Record Store Day.
Flowers, meanwhile, is preparing to release his third solo album, ‘Thrasher’, on August 21 via Island Records. He has so far previewed the Nashville-recorded project with the singles ‘Plans’ and ‘Paradise’.
Speaking about the album, Flowers said he had “found my way back to my father’s music”, adding: “I’m larger now than I was 20 years ago, and I’ve unlocked a room that feels like it’s been waiting for me all along.”
He will support ‘Thrasher’ with a UK, Ireland and North American tour later this year.
