Garth Brooks Makes Surprise Appearance To Perform With Luke Combs At Stagecoach
on Apr 28, 2025
Seven years after he headlined Stagecoach for the first time, Garth Brooks returned for a surprise performance.
For 18 years, Stagecoach has brought country music fans from all over the world together in Indio, California. The 3-day event offers an impressive lineup of emerging artists, modern-day hitmakers, and legends, making it the largest country music festival in the world.
The festival isn’t known only for its massive crowds and unbeatable lineup. In recent years, fans have shown up knowing that they’ll likely be treated to some jaw-dropping surprise collaborations.
Previous Surprise Appearances at Stagecoach
In 2024, headlining act Miranda Lambert brought out Reba McEntire to sing “Mama’s Broken Heart” and Reba’s own hit song, “Fancy.” That same year, Post Malone introduced numerous surprise guests for his classic country set list, including Brad Paisley, Sara Evans, and Dwight Yoakam.
RELATED: MIRANDA LAMBERT & REBA MCENTIRE SING “FANCY” AT STAGECOACH
One of the most talked about surprise appearances came in 2022 when Guns ‘n Roses frontman Axl Rose joined Carrie Underwood to sing his band’s “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City.”
Jelly Roll headlined the second night of Stagecoach 2025 and brought out numerous special guests, including MGK (Machine Gun Kelly), Shaboozey, Wiz Khalifa, Brandon Lake, and Lana Del Rey.
Garth Brooks was arguably the biggest surprise of Stagecoach 2025.
Late Sunday evening, Garth Brooks teased a Stagecoach appearance with a video posted to social media. In the clip, Garth is seen driving up to a private airport in a white farm truck. He steps out and says, “Stagecoach never broke my heart” before getting a duffel bag out of the back seat and making his way to a waiting private jet.
Fans immediately began to speculate that Brooks would be a surprise guest during Luke Combs’ Sunday night set. Brooks’ “Stagecoach never broke my heart” comment was interpreted as a nod to Comb’s 2019 hit, “Beer Never Broke My Heart.”
In addition, Combs is a longtime, vocal fan of Brooks and has often covered his songs. “The Dance” and “Callin’ Baton Rouge” are just two of the songs Combs has covered. In 2022, Luke sang “Beaches of Cheyenne” for the Nashville Songwriter Awards, where Garth was being honored. Garth responded by saying that he never felt like a songwriter until he heard Combs sing his song.
So it was only fitting that Luke Combs would invite Garth Brooks to join him at Stagecoach.
Combs closed his Stagecoach set with a cover of Brooks’ 1990 hit “Friends In Low Places.” Luke sang the first verse and chorus while the crowd sang along enthusiastically. But they were shocked when Garth made his way to the stage to sing the second verse and join Luke to lead a massive sing-along with the crowd.
Watch Garth Brooks make a surprise appearance at Stagecoach to sing with Luke Combs in the clips below.
@billboard @Luke Combs and Garth Brooks slipped on down to the oasis at #Stagecoach 🍻 #lukecombs #garthbrooks #friendsinlowplaces #country #countrymusic ♬ original sound – billboard
