Hosted by SNL’s James Austin Johnson, the sold-out Los Angeles show was full of collaborative performances and candid conversations
Alex Warren, Megan Moroney, Don Toliver, and Malcolm Todd packed the house at Los Angeles’ United Theater on Broadway on Friday for a night of collaborative performances and candid conversations during Rolling Stone’s Musicians on Musicians 2026 live event. The sold-out show was part of the latest edition of our Musicians on Musicians franchise, which has brought artists together annually since 2019 for conversations about life, music, and everything in between.
Moroney, who calls her blend of country and pop “emo-cowgirl,” and Warren, who combines pop, rock, and folk into potent, anthemic songs, were up first. In a digital cover story ahead of the event, the Nashville-based artists told Rolling Stone they have a lot of parallels, from both scoring big hits on their debut albums — her five-times-platinum “Tennessee Orange,” his record-breaking “Ordinary” — to creating across genres. In that convo they were open and vulnerable, mirroring the way they approach their songs.
The pair both released studio albums this year — Moroney dropped Cloud 9 in February, and Warren’s Wildchild arrived in August — and found even bigger audiences: Cloud 9 debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 and the Top Country Albums chart. Meanwhile, Wildchild debuted at Number One on the Top Albums Sales and Vinyl Albums charts, and bowed at Number Two on the Billboard 200.
Saturday Night Live’s James Austin Johnson served as host and moderator. “These two are on something of a hot streak,” Johnson said, nodding to their breakout hits and albums as he welcomed Moroney and Warren to the stage.
Warren discussed the personal nature of his songs, noting he wrote “Ordinary” for his wife. “When I went to go write that song, I was like, ‘I want to be able to say everything that I felt and send her the song.’ … It was that for me, but then all of a sudden people are walking down the aisle [to it], or it’s being played at funeral. It’s cool to have a song that can be played anywhere and anytime.”
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Nashville native Johnson brought up how huge country music is currently, and asked whether that influences Moroney to lean into pop or country. “I’ve always just tried not to even focus too much on genres because I feel like within country there’s so many subgenres, anyways,” Moroney said. “I am considered a country artist because a lot of the instrumentation of my song is country instruments, but my songwriting is my number one. So as it gets more popular, it’s just like, “Well, this must be working because I’m just gonna keep doing what I’ve been doing and stay in my lane.’”
Afterward, Moroney took the stage backed by musicians on acoustic guitar and percussion to perform breakup anthem “Medicine.” “I see some Cloud 9 hoodies out there,” she remarked as she donned a sparkling pink guitar for her next song, which she said she wrote for her niece.
“It’s been really special to hear stories from my fans of how this song has helped them get through shitty times in life,” she said, before performing “Beautiful Things.”
“I think we all go through times that we wish we didn’t have to go through. We go through situations where we’re like, ‘Why is this happening?’ And I just wanted to write a song that could maybe uplift anyone who feels that way.”
She closed with “6 Months Later” before Warren took the stage. He opened with “Eternity” before segueing into “Fever Dream,” and “Passenger.”
“OK, who said ‘Ordinary’?” Warren joked, as several audience members had been screaming to hear his hit during his set. “I’ve got a lot of cool brother points — my sisters love Megan, but also my wife is a big fan of Megan, and to be able to perform with Megan would be really sick, so let’s do this,” he said, before Moroney joined him onstage to deliver a gorgeous duet of the beloved song, buoyed by cello and an intricate acoustic melody.
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After a brief intermission, Toliver and Todd emerged onstage to riotous applause, hiking up the decibel levels in the room. Both artists have seen their careers reach a palpable upswing over the last year. Following viral singles “Art House” and “Roommates” in 2023 and a tour with Omar Apollo the following year, Todd’s self-titled debut studio album in 2025 delivered his breakout “Chest Pain (I Love).” The single landed him a feature with Toliver, who sampled the track for his Top 20 hit “E85.” Todd’s follow-up album, Do That Again, saw him lean into his so-called bedroom pop sound and the momentum from his fan base. Adjacent to the LP’s release, Todd’s Sweet Boy mixtape track “Earrings” has enjoyed a second life these recent months.
“It’s super cool early in your career,” Todd said of the collaboration with Toliver, “to [get] cosigns from people who’ve been doing it longer than you are really important.”
For Toliver’s part, the Houston native has been on the rise for years — with 2026 seeing him take off in exceptional fashion. He staked a claim as a bonafide hitmaker with 2024’s Hardstone Psycho debuting at Number Three on the Billboard 200 chart and the single “Bandit” reaching the Top 40. Following a quieter year that saw the birth of his son with partner Kali Uchis, Toliver returned with the chart-topping album, Octane, which places “E85” on the opening track. (Rolling Stone recently flagged the LP as a contender for Best Rap Album at the Grammys next year.)
When discussing what he can glean from artists like fellow Houstonian Travis Scott (Toliver appeared on his 2018 album, Astroworld) and Drake (he features twice on Habibti (Fomo)), Toliver said, “I’ve been really just studying these guys my whole career. So just to do music with them these days is just a breath of fresh air. But not only that, it’s always a learning experience. No matter how deep I get into it, it’s like something I learn all the time.” Motioning to Todd, he added, “I learn something every time I’m with Malcolm.”
When Johnson asked Todd whether his relatively quick success took him by surprise, the singer said that while it was “definitely shocking,” he was more focused on “what’s next.” “It was really cool,” he said. “But really I just was like back to the grindstone. Like I’m not gonna hang my hat on this one song.”
The conversation echoed their recent Musicians on Musicians cover story, and as it wrapped the pair teased a future collaboration. “Man listen, me and Michael finna go crazy,” said Toliver. “It’s a beautiful story to say that, you know, all of this happened off of me just kinda tapping into his energy. That’s how things just happen in the universe,” he continued. “Now we in here finna do more songs. It’s crazy.” Throughout the night, Johnson interacted with the crowd and at one point broke out his famed Trump impression.
The night concluded with performances from both artists. Todd appeared with his full band, opening with “Earrings” and moving into the equally sentimental “4Me 4Me” from his debut mixtape. He wrapped it with the rueful “Chest Pain (I Love).”
The last act of the night, Toliver’s set saw a rush of fans toward the stage, all of whom promptly got their cell phones out to document the star. The artist brought in his own band, and within moments had the packed theater throbbing along to Octane hit “Body” and 2020’s “No Idea.” By the time Toliver got to Internet Money’s “Lemonade” — which he featured alongside Gunna and Nav — fans were reverberating the verse back before he struck with Love Sick deluxe cut “No Pole.” When he dropped the tempo with Drake’s remix of Ella Langley’s colossal “Choosin’ Texas,” the crowd was delirious — and they hit an even more fevered pitch when Todd returned to join Toliver in a live rendition of “E85.”
Musicians on Musicians is presented by Sonesta International Hotels, bringing fans closer to the artists and conversations shaping music today. Sonesta Travel Pass members receive access to the event at exclusive member pricing, including premium seating and a special champagne toast to celebrate the evening.
As a presenting sponsor of Rolling Stone’s Rock Tour in 2026, bringing live music to cities across the U.S., Miller High Life now joins Rolling Stone for Musicians on Musicians as we bring these intimate conversations and collaborative performances to the stage.
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The 2027 Lexus TZ was designed for moments of connection and creates a space where people can reconnect with one another, themselves, and the world around them. As a proud sponsor of Musicians on Musicians, Lexus joins Rolling Stone in celebrating the conversations and connections that move music and culture forward across content and live moments.
As the night ended with some of the acts’ most fervent fans, the 2026 installment of Rolling Stone’s Musicians on Musicians came to a close. And while audiences got a closer look at some of today’s top acts, it was also a chance for the artists to take in the moment amid their career ascensions. As Warren put it earlier in the evening, “Growing up, we always dreamed of being musicians, and the fact that we’re even able to get even an ounce of the success we have today is really cool.”