Sometimes, for one reason or another, a band likes to spices things up a bit and bring a special guest on stage during one of their concerts. Sometimes they have a repertoire with the guest, other times it's a spontaneous moment arranged the day of. For whatever reason, these type of performances have always stuck out to me. This list could include 100's of such performances, but I'm just sticking to five tonight.
#1
On June 18, 2004 the rock band Phish brought out Brooklyn native Jay-Z to play two of his hits. I was actually in attendance at this show and was just as surprised as everyone else when we were told to "put it together for Jay-Z." He came out to a roaring applause and played "99 Problems" and "Big Pimpin" much to the delight of those in attendance. It was quite remarkable seeing the reception jamband fans gave. Quite the crossover!
#2
Another special guest on a June night, actually just over a week ago. On June 20, 2021 the Foo Fighters re-opened Madison Square Garden with the first concert since March 2020. It was a fully energized performance, complete with a very special guest. Lead singer Dave Grohl began by saying he knew "a lot of Daves" and introduced Dave Chappelle to the stage. The legendary comedian received a roaring reception and the band broke into Radiohead's "Creep" with Chappelle on lead vocals. Who ever would've thought the comedy legend could carry a tune?
#3
Keeping with the summer theme I've started here, the next performance took place on August 20, 2005. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were performing at the Amsterjam Festival in New York, NY. After a first set that featured mostly new tunes, rapper Snoop Dogg and legendary funk bassist Bootsy Collins joined the band for the second set. After a few jams and a hyped-up version of "Give It Away," the one-night only supergroup busted out Parliament Funkadelic classics "P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)" and "Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples" before going into Snoop's 1992 classic "Nuthin' But a G Thang." They wrapped up with James Brown's "Sex Machine" and Curtis Mayfield's "Freddie's Dead." A most memorable funk fest!
#4
The Grammy Awards are a well-known venue for artists to collaborate with each other. However, for the 59th Annual Awards in 2017, it was very surprising for me to see Lady Gaga join Metallica on stage to perform their trasher "Moth Into the Flame." The actual live performance suffered from technical difficulties, including Metallica frontman James Hetfield's microphone accidentally being turned off during the show. This forced him to share a microphone with Gaga. Hetfield threw his guitar offstage at the conclusion. All this played out on live TV. Not surprisingly, both artists only display the dress rehearsal performance on their YouTube pages (the way it should have sounded):
#5
We have to go all the way back to 1997 for the last entry on my list. More specifically, February 7, 1997. On that night, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers took the stage. The extended show that night was filled with Petty originals and packed with plenty of covers. It was a special three set concert. For the second set, blues legend John Lee Hooker took the stage for three tunes. Though performing from a seated position (he was either 80 or 85 years old at the time -- his birth year is disputed as either 1912 or 1917), Hooker stole the spotlight for "I Found My Baby" - "Serves You Right to Suffer" - and "Boogie Chillun." Petty graciously stepped to the side and wailed on the harmonica.
Hope you enjoyed this list.
What are some of your favorite music collaborations that happened live on stage?
