Good Charlotte join Hilary Duff on-stage at Madison Square Garden just hours after the Madden Brothers’ company carried out mass layoffs at US music journalism titles

Good Charlotte joined Hilary Duff on-stage for her gig at Madison Square Garden, just hours after the Madden Brothers’ company carried out mass layoffs at US music journalism titles including Pitchfork and BrooklynVegan. The gig took place on Wednesday night (August 5), as Duff headlined the iconic New York venue as part of her 2026 tour dates. During the set, she performed a cover of Good Charlotte’s 2002 hit song ‘The Anthem’, and welcomed band members Joel and Benji Madden out for a surprise collaboration. After asking fans to give the “warmest welcome to [her] friends”, while fittingly wearing a Good Charlotte band shirt, she hugged the two members and launched into the cover. The collaboration comes as Duff and Joel Madden previously dated for a couple of years – with them starting a relationship in 2004 when he was 25 and she was 16. Since their split in 2006, the two have remained on good terms, and Duff went on to post a photo with her now-husband Matthew Koma, showing them stood alongside the Madden brothers and Joel’s wife Nicole Richie for a photo backstage at Madison Square Garden. The on stage appearance at MSG came just hours after it was revealed that Benji and Joel ...