Carrie Underwood Rocks Out with Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park Covers in Surprising Velocity Festival Setlist

The country star, who also covered Collective Soul and Papa Roach, has long been open about her love of rock and roll, and has performed with bands like Guns N’ Roses and Mötley Crüe

Carrie Underwood may be known as a country queen, but she’s not afraid to show off her love for rock ‘n’ roll!

The singer, 43, surprised attendees at the Velocity Festival in Dyersville, Iowa on Saturday, Sept. 5 by breaking out some nu-metal hits by bands like Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Papa Roach and Collective Soul.

Though Underwood’s setlist included country hits of her own like “Before He Cheats” and “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” she veered into new territory with “Break Stuff,” Limp Bizkit’s 1999 hit, “Scars,” Papa Roach’s 2010 single, “Shine,” which Collective Soul released in 1993, and “One Step Closer,” Linkin Park’s 2000 debut single.

For “Break Stuff,” Underwood fully embraced her rock side, jumping around the stage while skipping over some of the song’s more explicit lyrics. She even wore a backward red baseball cap in honor of the band’s frontman Fred Durst, and headbanged while covering Linkin Park, according to fan video shared to social media.

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“Had the BEST time last night in Dyersville, IA at the @velocitymusicfest !!! Everything about it was 🔥🔥🔥!!!” she later wrote on Instagram. “Thanks to all who came out to party! Y’all were crazy!”

In an earlier post, she wrote that she’d flown in early to Iowa in order to catch Shinedown’s headlining set, and felt “inspired to try some new stuff in our set tomorrow.”

The American Idol judge has long been a big fan of rock, and has performed over the years with bands like Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe.

Axl Rose made a surprise appearance at Underwood’s Stagecoach set in 2022, and she later joined his band on stage a number of times. During her set at Velocity, she also covered “Sweet Child o’ Mine.”

In May, she and Mötley Crüe teamed up for “Home Sweet Home” and “Kickstart My Heart” on American Idol.

Underwood also shared the stage with Papa Roach in 2025, joining them on the group’s Las Vegas tour stop to perform their collaboration “Leave a Light on (Talk Away the Dark).”

The country star has said she “grew up listening to everything,” and is not opposed to one day releasing a rock album.

“I do have an affinity for rock music and metal, and I just love the energy more than anything. I love going to rock concerts because it feels like freedom to me,” she told Audacy in 2023. “You never really know with me. I never say never about anything. I feel like certain influences work their way into different songs and different moments, even if they’re not songs that I record.”

Other headliners at Velocity included Shinedown and Creed. Underwood’s performance took place at the Field of Dreams movie site.

Via: People