Hilary Duff had a familiar face waiting in the wings when she took over Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
During the first of two sold-out New York shows on August 5, the 38-year-old singer and actress brought out her ex-boyfriend Joel Madden and his band Good Charlotte for an unexpected performance of the group’s 2002 hit “The Anthem.”
It was the kind of reunion that could have been awkward. Instead, Duff and Madden looked perfectly at ease as they shared the stage in front of a packed Garden, turning a throwback pop-punk anthem into one of the biggest surprises of Duff’s current tour.
Duff and Madden, now 47, dated from 2004 to 2006, when both were firmly entrenched in the early-2000s celebrity machine. More than two decades later, there appears to be no bad blood. The former couple have remained friends and have even become part of each other’s extended family circles, regularly spending time together with their respective spouses, Matthew Koma and Nicole Richie.
There is an additional connection between Duff and Good Charlotte these days. Koma, Duff’s husband, has been performing with the band during its current tour while Duff is on the road with her own The Lucky Me Tour, which began in June.
That made Madden’s appearance less completely out of left field, but seeing Duff and her former boyfriend trading verses on “The Anthem” at Madison Square Garden was still the sort of surprise designed to get people talking.
Duff returns to the Garden on Thursday, August 6, for the second sold-out show before taking the tour overseas. She is scheduled to perform across Europe in September, followed by dates in New Zealand and Australia in October. Canada comes early next year, with the tour currently set to wrap with shows in Mexico in February 2027.
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Last modified: August 6, 2026
