Carrie Underwood Surprises Velocity Festival Crowd With Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and Papa Roach Covers

Carrie Underwood took an unexpected turn into nu-metal during her headline performance at the 2026 Velocity Festival in Dyersville, Iowa, on September 5, delivering a run of rock covers that had the crowd buzzing.

Rather than sticking entirely to the country hits that have defined her career, Underwood worked several late-1990s and early-2000s rock favorites into her set. The surprise sequence included Collective Soul’s “Shine,” Papa Roach’s “Scars,” Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer,” and Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff.”

The festival took place at the Field of Dreams movie site, where Underwood headlined the second day of the three-day event. Shinedown and Lynyrd Skynyrd led the Friday lineup, while Creed closed the festival on Sunday alongside Nate Smith and Filter.

Underwood embraces her rock side

The most eye-catching moment came when Underwood launched into Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff,” the band’s 1999 hit.

For the performance, she put on a backwards red hat as a nod to Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, adding a visual touch that made the unexpected cover even more recognizable.

Fan-shot footage of both “Break Stuff” and “One Step Closer” circulated online following the performance, giving audiences who were not at the Iowa festival a glimpse of Underwood’s rock-heavy detour.

The choice of songs may have surprised some country fans, but Underwood has never hidden her enthusiasm for rock music. Over the years, she has performed alongside Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose, welcomed Joan Jett during her 2019 CMA Fest appearance and regularly included Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” in her live shows.

Her connection with Papa Roach is particularly established. In 2024, Underwood collaborated with the band on an updated version of “Leave a Light On (Talk Away the Dark).” She later joined Papa Roach onstage in Las Vegas to perform the collaboration as well as the group’s hit “Last Resort.”

From Papa Roach to Linkin Park

Underwood’s performance of “Scars” gave her another opportunity to revisit her connection with Papa Roach, while “One Step Closer” brought one of Linkin Park’s best-known early songs into the set.

Together with “Shine,” the covers created a distinct rock-focused stretch within a show otherwise rooted in Underwood’s country repertoire.

The change in direction was especially noticeable because of how naturally she moved between the different styles. Instead of treating the covers as isolated surprises, Underwood grouped them together into a concentrated burst of rock energy.

The result was a portion of the concert that felt markedly different from the traditional country material associated with her career.

Rock has long been part of Underwood’s musical identity

Underwood’s relationship with rock goes well beyond a single festival appearance.

She has repeatedly incorporated rock influences into her performances and has shared stages with some of the genre’s most recognizable artists.

Earlier in 2026, she joined Mötley Crüe during the May 11 finale of American Idol for performances of “Home Sweet Home” and “Kickstart My Heart.” Her connection to “Home Sweet Home” goes back even further: she recorded her own version of the song in 2009 for the American Idol Season 8 farewell song.

Her collaborations with major rock performers have helped make these genre-crossing performances feel less like a departure and more like another side of her musical personality.

A rock-heavy moment at Field of Dreams

Velocity Festival provided an especially fitting setting for Underwood to lean into that side of her music.

The 2026 festival was held over three days at the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, with Underwood serving as Saturday’s headliner. The event was built around a lineup that also featured established rock acts, including Shinedown, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Creed.

Underwood’s set therefore gave the audience both sides of her musical identity: the country superstar behind her familiar hits and the longtime rock fan willing to step outside the genre for some of the evening’s biggest surprises.

Her selection of “Shine,” “Scars,” “One Step Closer” and “Break Stuff” made that contrast particularly clear.

The performance also showed why Underwood’s rock influences continue to be an important part of her live shows. From her history of performing with rock legends to her more recent collaborations, she has repeatedly demonstrated that her musical range extends well beyond country.

At Velocity Festival, she simply put that side of herself front and center.

And for the Iowa crowd, seeing a country superstar trade her familiar sound for Collective Soul, Papa Roach, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit made for one of the most unexpected stretches of her set.