Carrie Underwood turned heads with a string of nu-metal covers during her performance at the Velocity Festival in Dyersville, Iowa, on Saturday, thrilling the crowd with an unexpected deep dive into late-nineties and early-2000s rock.
The country superstar worked her way through Collective Soul’s “Shine,” Papa Roach’s “Scars,” Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer,” and a spirited rendition of Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff.” At one point during the set, she tipped a backwards red cap in tribute to Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst while delivering the band’s 1999 smash.
The covers were far from out of character. Underwood has long spoken about her love of rock music and has built an impressive resume of cross-genre collaborations. She has shared the stage with Guns N’ Roses legend Axl Rose, brought out Joan Jett during her 2019 CMA Fest performance, and frequently closes her concerts with Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades.”
Her connection to Papa Roach runs particularly deep. In 2024, she joined the California rockers for a reworked version of “Leave a Light On (Talk Away the Dark).” She later appeared alongside the band in Las Vegas to perform the updated track live, as well as their breakout hit “Last Resort.”
Earlier this year, Underwood expanded her rock credentials further when she teamed up with Mötley Crüe during the May 11 finale of American Idol, tackling “Home Sweet Home” and “Kickstart My Heart.” Her history with the former dates back to 2009, when she recorded her own version of the ballad for the Season 8 farewell song.
Underwood headlined the second night of the three-day Velocity Festival, held at the iconic Field of Dreams site. Shinedown and Lynyrd Skynyrd opened the weekend on Friday, while Creed, Nate Smith, and Filter rounded out Sunday’s closing bill.
