Ms. Lauryn Hill Sits In With Son Zion Marley At New Jersey Jam Band Festival Beardfest [Photos/Video]

Eight-time Grammy-winning rapper and singer Ms. Lauryn Hill on Friday night surprised the audience at Hammonton, NJ jam band festival Beardfest when she took the stage with host band Out of the Beardspace and Zion Marley—her son with Rohan Marley and the grandson of late reggae legend Bob Marley—for a four-song guest appearance.

While experimental and improvisational music have been Beardfest’s bread and butter throughout the event’s 13-year run, the lineup for the 2025 edition of the festival notably featured a collaborative headlining set by Zion Marley and Out of the Beardspace billed as Zion Marley and the Beardspace. On the day of the show, Beardfest’s organizers announced that Zion and the Beardspace would be joined by “a special surprise guest,” during the set.

After working through a number of unreleased songs from the 27-year-old Marley’s upcoming debut album, From Zion, the ensemble paid homage to Zion’s grandfather with a medley of Bob Marley classics (“Natural Mystic” > “Revolution” > “So Much Trouble in the World”). A take on Zion’s 2024 single “Best of Me” and a run through Bob’s iconic “Three Little Birds” finally led into the most exciting moment of the night.

First, Zion Marley led the group—comprised of Sam Gutman (keys), Zach LoPresti (guitar), Jeremy Savo (guitar), Kevin Savo (bass), Ethan Feinstein (percussion), Jeremy Boyd (drums), and Alex Alonzo (playback)—through his most recent single, “Marching”, which samples unused vocal overdubs from his mother’s 1997 song about him, “To Zion”, from her Album of the Year Grammy-winning 1998 LP, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. As the band transitioned from there into a full reading of “To Zion”, Ms. Hill strolled onstage to sing the tender words she wrote for her son nearly three decades ago.

Ms. Hill stuck around for the rest of the set, leading Zion and Out of the Beardspace through her hit version of “Killing Me Softly” from her Fugees days and Miseducation favorites “Lost Ones” and “Doo Wop (That Thing)”.

While Ms. Lauryn Hill and Zion Marley performing at a regional jam band festival might sound like a surprising match, there’s more connecting Hill/Marley and Out of the Beardspace/Beardfest than you might realize. In addition to playing with Out of the Beardspace and serving as co-founders and co-directors of Beardfest, Sam Gutman and Zach LoPresti both play in Ms. Lauryn Hill’s touring band and regularly perform with both Zion Marley and his younger brother, fellow rising reggae artist YG Marley.

As Gutman explained to Live For Live Music, the Beardfest set featuring Ms. Lauryn Hill marked Zion’s first full headlining performance of his own—making it a full-circle moment for them, the festival, Zion, and Ms. Hill.

The 2025 edition of Beardfest also featured performances by Papadosio, Couch, TAUK ft. Kanika Moore, Snacktime, Consider the Source, Brad Miller ft. Oz Noy & Keith Carlock, Sicard Hollow, Solar Circuit, and more.

Below, check out the setlist from the Zion Marley and the Beardspace set featuring special guest Lauryn Hill at Beardfest below. Scroll down to view a selection of photos and videos from the set.

Setlist: Zion Marley and the Beardspace | Beardfest | Hammonton, NJ | 6/27/25
Set: In the Sky, Breath, Premature Paradise, Stay, Heartbeat, Caught Up, Green Hill Zone, Natural Mystic (Bob Marley) > Revolution (Bob Marley) > So Much Trouble in the World (Bob Marley), Best of Me, Three Little Birds (Bob Marley), Marching > To Zion (Ms. Lauryn Hill) [1], Killing Me Softly (Fox/Gimbel/Lieberman, in the style of Fugees) [1], Lost Ones (Ms. Lauryn Hill) [1], Doo Wop (That Thing) (Ms. Lauryn Hill) [1]
Notes: [1] with Ms. Lauryn Hill (vocals)