Carrie Underwood Rocks Out with Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park Covers in Surprising Velocity Festival Setlist
Carrie Underwood Rocks Out with Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park Covers in Surprising Velocity Festival Setlist
Rachel DeSantisMon, September 7, 2026 at 5:46 PM UTC
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Carrie Underwood performing at the 2026 Velocity Festival in Dyersville, Iowa on Sept. 5, 2026.Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty -
Carrie Underwood surprised fans at the Velocity Festival with covers of nu-metal hits by Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park
She embraced her rock side, wearing a backward cap for Limp Bizkit and headbanging during Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer”
Underwood, a longtime rock fan, has performed with Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, and Mötley Crüe and hinted at a rock album
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.
“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.
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Limp Bizkit (L-R Wes Borland, DJ Lethal, Fred Durst, John Otto and Sam Rivers) in Chicago in September 1997.Credit: Paul Natkin/Getty
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).”
Carrie Underwood at the Velocity Festival in Dyersville, Iowa on Sept. 5, 2026.Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty
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.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
