Carrie Underwood Goes Full Fred Durst With Wild Limp Bizkit Cover
Carrie Underwood has never exactly hidden her love of rock music, but she took that affection to a very different place at Iowa’s Velocity Festival.
During her September 5, 2026, headlining set at the Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville, Underwood surprised the crowd with a run of rock and nu-metal covers, culminating in Limp Bizkit’s 1999 hit “Break Stuff.” For the performance, she even changed outfits and appeared in a backward red baseball cap, giving the moment a clear Fred Durst-inspired look.
The song choice was unexpected enough on its own. Hearing the singer best known for songs such as “Before He Cheats” and “Jesus, Take the Wheel” take on Limp Bizkit was even more striking because Underwood did not treat the performance like a brief novelty.
Instead, “Break Stuff” arrived as the finale to a dedicated stretch of rock covers that also included Collective Soul’s “Shine,” Papa Roach’s “Scars” and Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer.”
Carrie Underwood Has Always Had a Rock Side
For longtime fans, however, the surprise probably makes more sense.
Underwood has repeatedly shown that her musical tastes extend well beyond country. She has performed with major rock acts and has made her appreciation for hard rock and metal clear in interviews.
Her history with Guns N’ Roses is perhaps the most recognizable example. In 2022, Axl Rose joined Underwood during her Stagecoach set for performances of “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and “Paradise City.” She later joined the band onstage again in London. Underwood has also performed “Welcome to the Jungle” and incorporated a drum solo of her own song “Poor Everybody Else” into her shows.
She has even acknowledged that a full rock record could eventually happen.
Speaking with Audacy, Underwood said she grew up listening to a wide range of music and has a particular affinity for rock and metal. She explained that the energy of rock concerts is part of what appeals to her, describing that feeling as freedom.
When asked about the possibility of making a rock album, she left the door open.
“You never really know with me. I never say never about anything.”
She also noted that musical influences can find their way into different songs and moments, even when she does not ultimately record those songs herself.
That possibility may still be hypothetical, but her live performances have increasingly provided evidence of how naturally she can move into the genre.
A Rock-Heavy Turn at Velocity Festival
The Velocity Festival provided an ideal setting for Underwood to explore that side of her musical personality.
The three-day event took place September 4-6, 2026, at the Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville, Iowa, with Shinedown, Underwood and Creed serving as the three headliners. Underwood headlined Saturday, September 5.
Her set still featured plenty of the country material audiences expected. The 23-song performance included “Church Bells,” “Undo It,” “Cowboy Casanova,” “Some Hearts,” “Good Girl,” “Wasted,” “Dirty Laundry,” “Two Black Cadillacs,” “Blown Away,” “Cry Pretty,” “Crazy Angels,” “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Hate My Heart,” among others.
Then the mood shifted.
Underwood launched into Collective Soul’s “Shine,” followed by Papa Roach’s “Scars” and Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer.” The sequence ended with Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff,” turning the middle of her country-heavy set into an unexpected trip through late-1990s and early-2000s rock.
She Was Ready for “Break Stuff”
Before launching into Limp Bizkit, Underwood acknowledged the song’s aggressive nature while also explaining why she would be cleaning up the lyrics.
“I love aggressive, angry music. But I also love Jesus, so I don’t say the potty words.”
She then warned the audience that the song contained plenty of them and asked the crowd to promise they would not be repeated by her.
That meant Underwood had to work around much of the explicit language during “Break Stuff,” with the audience helping fill in parts of the song.
Visually, she committed to the idea as well. The backward red cap was a recognizable nod to Fred Durst, Limp Bizkit’s frontman, and gave the performance an unmistakable late-’90s nu-metal flavor.
Fan-filmed footage of the performance quickly circulated online, bringing even more attention to one of the night’s most unusual moments. Reports have noted that reactions were mixed, with some fans embracing the unexpected genre switch and others questioning the choice of song.
Either way, Underwood clearly knew what she was doing. The outfit change, the song choice and the deliberately censored lyrics all made the cover feel like a full performance rather than a passing reference to Limp Bizkit.
“Break Stuff” Was Only Part of the Rock Detour
The Limp Bizkit cover may have generated the biggest reaction, but Underwood had already pushed her set well outside its usual boundaries.
“Scars” was particularly fitting because Underwood has an existing connection with Papa Roach. In 2024, she teamed up with the band for 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.”
She also took on Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer,” another song that comes from a very different musical world than the country material for which she is best known.
Collective Soul’s “Shine” completed the initial stretch of covers, while “Sweet Child o’ Mine” later brought Guns N’ Roses back into the set. The result was a concert that moved repeatedly between country, rock and heavier material without losing the identity of Underwood’s show.
The Rock Influences Keep Showing Up
The Velocity Festival performance fits into a much longer pattern.
Underwood has performed with Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe, among other rock artists. Earlier in 2026, she joined Mötley Crüe during the May 11 finale of American Idol for “Home Sweet Home” and “Kickstart My Heart.” She also recorded “Home Sweet Home” in 2009 for the farewell episode of American Idol Season 8.
Her connection to rock has therefore been visible for years, even while country remains at the center of her career.
The Velocity Festival simply put that side of her musical taste front and center.
And there was some inspiration behind the decision to experiment with the set. Underwood had flown into Iowa early to see Shinedown perform at the festival and said the experience inspired her to try some new material during her own show.
Could a Carrie Underwood Rock Album Actually Happen?
That question remains open.
Underwood has never committed to making a full rock album, but she has also never ruled it out. Her comments to Audacy suggest that she prefers to let different influences emerge naturally rather than deciding in advance what a project has to sound like.
Her live career tells a similar story.
From Guns N’ Roses and Mötley Crüe to Papa Roach, Linkin Park and now Limp Bizkit, Underwood has repeatedly demonstrated that she is comfortable stepping outside the boundaries of country music when the right opportunity comes along.
The Velocity Festival may therefore be less about a sudden change in direction and more about another glimpse of a side of Underwood that has been there all along.
For one stretch of the September 5 concert, she traded the country set for “Shine,” “Scars,” “One Step Closer” and “Break Stuff,” capped the latter with a Fred Durst-inspired red cap, and let the crowd embrace the chaos.
It was a surprising choice for a country superstar, but perhaps not such a surprising choice for Carrie Underwood herself. Her long-standing love of rock and metal has been well documented, and her latest festival performance gave that influence one of its loudest stages yet.
I’ve honestly never heard Carrie Underwood like this, and you can check it out here:
Another angle:
“Break Stuff”