Hilary Duff brought Good Charlotte onstage at Madison Square Garden to perform “The Anthem” with ex-boyfriend Joel Madden.
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The Lizzie McGuire alum performed on Wednesday night, Aug. 5, at MSG in New York City, where Madden and his twin brother Benji Madden took the stage to perform a rendition of Good Charlotte’s 2002 hit “The Anthem.” Madden, nine years Duff’s junior, dated the Disney alum from 2004 to 2006.
“New York, you know I would never come here and not have a surprise for you,” Duff told fans. “I brought two of my dearest friends to New York City tonight. Talk about some day oners.”
Duff announced, “Can you please give the warmest welcome to my friends, Good Charlotte?”
During the performance, Duff, who sported a Good Charlotte T-shirt, sang alongside Joel: “I don’t ever wanna be you/ Don’t wanna be just like you,” both of them holding out their microphones to encourage the crowd to sing along.
The rockstar’s wife Nicole Richie and the Disney alum’s husband Matthew Koma were in attendance, as well as her kids Luca, 14, Banks, 7, Mae, 5, and Townes, 2.
Benji couldn’t help but beam over the reunion, writing on his Instagram Stories alongside a snap of them backstage: “Family night @ MSG. Congrats @hilaryduff.”
In her 2023 appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Duff had already hinted at their closeness.
“I have a good relationship with their whole family,” she shared. “People are like, ‘What?’ We’re neighbors. We actually hang out all the time.”
She added: “I think people were like, ‘What?’ We’re neighbors and we actually hang out all the time. I was just in her driveway honking for her to come drink wine with us the other day.”
When Duff released her comeback single “Mature” in 2025, Nicole Richie joked on Instagram Stories: “‘Mature’ is not the word I would use to describe us, but regardless, this song is a BOP.”
Joel also seemed to dispel rumors when he shared a snap of himself and Hilary’s husband, Matthew Koma, on his Instagram Stories. His caption: “So Matture” (lol, get it?).
Beyond the reunion performance, Duff had an emotionally hectic day before hitting the stage.
“My kids are here tonight,” she told the crowd. “I can’t believe I get to show them this. We were in the ER this morning getting some stitches for my 5-year-old,” Hilary revealed of Mae.
“It’s all good. But it’s very ‘our family-coded’ that I would be playing my first show at MSG and also be in the emergency room getting my kid stitched up.”
Duff had a message for her daughter, saying: “Mae Mae, you’re very brave.”
In the viral moment that the reunion followed from, Joel and Benji Madden stepped onstage to perform “The Anthem,” with Hilary chiming in for an unforgettable duet. The Lizzie McGuire alum asked fans to give the “warmest welcome to [her] friends” before the rockers joined her on stage, at which point she gave them hugs, as they proceeded to rock out to the 2003 hit. A clip captured by Billboard that Good Charlotte shared on Instagram shows the group singing the band’s 2003 hit, which peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in the day.
Duff heads to the U.K. next before wrapping in Mexico City on February 12, 2027.