At Monday’s 58th Grammy Awards, the internet was abuzz with rumors that the legendary Lauryn Hill would be joining Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, for a performance of “In The Night,” his heavily Michael Jackson-influenced single off his most recent album, Beauty Behind The Madness, which was recently certified platinum thanks to the RIAA’s new certification rules. However, when Weeknd took the stage on Monday’s stage, Ms. Hill was notably absent, and to this day there isn’t an unequivocal reason as to why. Some reports say that though Lauryn showed up to rehearsals, she was late arriving to the actual dance. Others suggest that despite the social media rumors, a duet between the Toronto and New Jersey natives was never confirmed, and due to time restraints, couldn’t seamlessly be pulled off the day of. Regardless, the music world missed out on a trans-generational moment that would’ve likely been entertaining for everyone watching.
Thankfully, that moment came last night, as Lauryn Hill–in the flesh–in all her extravagance, joined The Weeknd on stage for a performance of “In The Night” on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Showered gently with blue lights and supported by several background singers and a live band, Hill and Weeknd delivered a more-than-fulfilling performance of the BBTM single, and you can re-live the moment above. It’s worth noting that though Weeknd’s album was released in August of 2015, the music off the album is still living effortlessly several months later, solidifying the fact that he’s not Pop’s next big thing, he’s its current big thing.
