Babyface steals the show before Brandy and Monica make the wait worth it at ESSENCE Fest
Leon Thomas channeled a young D’Angelo, Patti LaBelle checked her makeup mid-set, and Brandy and Monica closed out a long night of R&B at the Caesars Superdome.
Saturday night at the ESSENCE Festival of Culture was not for people with somewhere else to be.
There was an obvious delay inside the Caesars Superdome, but the second night of the festival’s Evening Concert Series packed enough R&B across generations to make the long haul worth it. By the time Brandy and Monica finally arrived, the crowd had already seen Leon Thomas turn his set into a musicianship showcase, Patti LaBelle check her makeup in front of thousands of people, and Babyface remind everyone how much of the soundtrack to our lives belongs to him.
The official Saturday lineup brought together Brandy and Monica, Babyface, Patti LaBelle, Leon Thomas and Josh Levi.
Thomas offered an early reminder that he is much more than the man behind “MUTT.” The singer ripped through an insane guitar solo during his breakout hit before shocking the crowd again by jumping behind the drums for “SNEAK.”
The moment felt like a glimpse of the kind of artist Thomas is becoming in real time. Vocally, musically, and aesthetically, there were flashes of a young D’Angelo in his performance. But the guitar and drum solos made it clear that Thomas is building his own lane, one where the musicianship is just as important as the records.
Then came Patti LaBelle.
The 82-years-young icon was exactly as Patti LaBelle as one could hope. She paused to check her makeup onstage and even showed the Superdome her mirror before getting back to the business of singing.
Her set included “Somebody Loves You Baby,” “Lady Marmalade” and “The Right Kinda Lover,” along with a blend of Nelly and Kelly Rowland’s “Dilemma” and her own classic “If Only You Knew.” She also brought out Philly musician Jeff Bradshaw, who added his signature trombone to the show. And just in case anyone thought LaBelle was not keeping up with the times, her band slipped into T.I.’s 2026 single “Let ’Em Know.” Bradshaw is best known for his trombone-driven blend of soul, jazz and R&B, while T.I. released “Let ’Em Know” earlier this year.
The music briefly gave way to Hollywood when cast members from Prime Video’s upcoming Muhammad Ali series, “The Greatest,” took the stage and presented a first look at the series. Omari Hardwick, who plays Ali’s father, was absent, but Michael Ealy’s arrival was enough to send plenty of women in the Superdome into a screaming fit.
Ealy plays Malcolm X in the series, alongside newcomer Jaalen Best as Muhammad Ali. Prime Video announced Saturday that “The Greatest” will premiere Nov. 4.
Rev. Al Sharpton later turned the stage into something closer to a rally. He urged the crowd to vote before paying tribute to his late mentor, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and leading thousands in Jackson’s famous call: “Keep hope alive.”
Jackson, who died in February, helped shape Sharpton’s path in activism after appointing him youth director of Operation Breadbasket as a teenager.
But Babyface may have been the night’s biggest show-stealer.
He performed hit after hit from a catalog stacked with No. 1 records and songs he helped create for other artists. His set included a tribute to Whitney Houston, but one of the night’s most touching moments came during “A Song for Mama,” the Boyz II Men classic he wrote and produced.
As Babyface sang, images of beloved real and fictional Black mothers appeared onscreen, including Michelle Obama, Coretta Scott King, Florida Evans from “Good Times,” Phylicia Rashad and Big Mama from “Soul Food.”
It was simple, emotional and incredibly effective.
Then, finally, came Brandy and Monica.
The joint set initially leaned into a chessboard theme, visually playing with the competition that has followed the women for nearly three decades. But by the second half, the show opened up into something warmer and more celebratory.
Brandy delivered a dramatic tribute to Michael Jackson with “Earth Song,” while former Beyoncé dance captain Ashley Everett joined her onstage. Everett spent years as one of Beyoncé’s most recognizable dancers and served as her longtime dance captain.
Family was part of the show, too. Monica’s daughter Laiyah came out to dance as the stadium erupted to Yung Miami’s viral “Spend Dat,” while Brandy’s daughter, Sy’rai, was also present. Brandy’s vocals got another layer of support from June’s Diary, who sang backup for her.
There were multiple costume changes, plenty of hits and enough nostalgia to carry the crowd through the late hour.
The night may have tested everyone’s patience, but Brandy and Monica ultimately made the wait worth it. And on a stage that moved from Leon Thomas’ future-facing musicianship to Patti LaBelle and Babyface’s living legends status, the biggest takeaway was hard to miss.
R&B was the point of the night, in every generation and every form.
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