Carrie Underwood delighted fans with a nostalgic reprise of an iconic cover she first performed on American Idol during the Guns N’ Roses tour kick off on Saturday evening (Aug. 6) at Croix-Bleue Medavie Stadium in Moncton, NB, Canada.
During her support slot on the first night of Guns N’ Roses massive 2023 World Tour, the country superstar reprised her Top 11 Idol performance from Season 4, when she covered Heart’s “Alone” on the popular singing competition show.
Reprised American Idol Performance
Donning an all black leather ensemble with silver accents, Underwood belted out the lyrics to the iconic rock hit, proving once again that she is one of the greatest powerhouse singers of this generation.
Underwood’s cover of the ‘80s power ballad became a fan-favorite moment from her time on Idol, which she later was crowned the winner of.
18-Song Set List
Throughout her 18-song set, Underwood also delivered performances of “Last Name,” “Undo It,” “Church Bells,” “Blown Away,” “Flat On The Floor,” “Somethin’ Bad,” and of course her chart-topping hit, “Before He Cheats.”
She also performed a handful of tunes from her upcoming project, Denim & Rhinestones (Deluxe Edition), including “Crazy Angels,” “Hate My Heart,” “Poor Everybody Else,” “Velvet Heartbreak” and “Out Of That Truck.”
In addition to performing her own hits and a cover of Heart, she delivered five other jaw-dropping rock covers, including Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation,” Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses,” Led Zeppelin’s “Rock And Roll” and Motörhead’s “Ace Of Spades.”
Underwood also joined the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame members for a pair of performances, including “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City,” both of which appear on Guns N’ Roses’ debut album, Appetite For Destruction.
“Country Girl Living Out Some Rockstar Dreams”
Underwood was admittedly nervous to perform in front of an audience of rock fans rather than country fans.
“Just a country girl living out some rockstar dreams… I want to say a HUGE thanks to @gunsnroses for having us out on tour, as well as their amazing fans!” she wrote on Instagram. ”I was super nervous playing for another band’s crowd (of a completely different genre, no less) but you all made us feel so welcome!!!”
“A Lot Of Surprises” In Her Set
Ahead of the show, Carrie Underwood teased that she had “a lot of surprises” in store for her set.
“I wanted to be me, but I also wanted to bridge the gap between me and Guns N’ Roses a little bit, so we’re just having a blast with it,” she said of her setlist. “I’m doing some cover songs of some rock stuff that I love. I’m mashing up some of my songs with some other songs. We just look at it as an opportunity to be creative and get to do something we’ve never done before; just have a good time with it.”
She hopes her fans enjoy the chance to see a unique show from her.
“My fans that are at the shows will see things that they’ve never seen and hear things that they’ve never heard in a really cool way, and then also even if there’s people out there who have no idea what I do, hopefully, they’ll really enjoy seeing us before Guns N’ Roses and just have fun with us too,” she shared. “So, it’s an opportunity for new creative things to happen, and I’m excited about it.”
Massive Fan Of Guns N’ Roses For A Long Time
The opportunity to tour with Guns N’ Roses is something Underwood doesn’t take lightly. She has been a fan of the iconic rock band for quite some time.
“I think the things I look forward to most are obviously, like watching their show (laughs) and being around them, but it’s just such a fun vibe,” Underwood shared with her record label prior to the tour kick off. “Their fans are absolutely incredible and so supportive and just have been so much fun, everything that I’ve seen from them.”
The Oklahoma native and Guns N’ Roses’ frontman Axl Rose, who Underwood previously dubbed a “dream duet partner,” first joined forces for a star-studded duet during Underwood’s headlining set at Stagecoach in 2022.
She also teamed up with the popular rock group in London in July of 2022, surprising the crowd at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Axl Rose Helped Underwood Find Her Voice
In 2015, Underwood, an avid fan of classic rock, told E! Online she found her voice from listening to artists like the Guns N’ Roses’ singer.
“I’ve covered enough Guns N’ Roses stuff, and it was people like him who taught me how to sing,” Underwood previously shared. “I look at people like him and Freddie Mercury, those people who were doing all these crazy runs. It was so different.”
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2020, Underwood opened up about flying to Las Vegas to see her “favorite band,” Guns N’ Roses, for the first time and she declared it was “one of the best nights” of her life.
“We were nowhere near Las Vegas, so naturally I said, ‘Let’s go to Las Vegas with the band and go see GN’R play,’” Underwood told Fallon at the time. “It’s kind of a life-long dream of mine I never thought would happen. Couldn’t waste that opportunity, so I abandoned my husband, abandoned my children, went to Vegas, and saw Guns N’ Roses. Amazing.”
Carrie Underwood’s extremely limited run of shows with Guns ‘N Roses includes two more dates: Tuesday, August 8 at Parc Jean Drapeau in Montreal, QC and Saturday, August 26 at GEODIS Park in Nashville, TN.
