During the 2005 run on American Idol that made her a household name, Carrie Underwood paid homage to her musical foremothers by covering Heart's 1987 power ballad "Alone." Underwood revisited the song while living her rock 'n' roll fantasy on Saturday (Aug. 5) in Moncton, NB, Canada as the opening act for the first show of Guns N' Roses' (GNR) 2023 World Tour.
Underwood introduced the tune as one she's sung "just about her whole life" before performing it with the same urgency she showed as an aspiring artist scrapping for a mainstream platform — with the added glitz earned from years on some of country music's brightest stages.
That same night, Underwood's setlist included not just "Alone" and a bevy of her own hits but also covers of Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation," Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," Led Zeppelin's "Rock And Roll" and Motörhead's "Ace Of Spades."
A longtime GNR fan who credits Axl Rose for inspiring her to sing, Underwood joined the band later in the night for two songs: "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City."
Underwood breathed a sigh of relief on social media after feeling embraced by her fellow hard rock lifers in the audience.
"I was super nervous playing for another band's crowd (of a completely different genre, no less) but you all made us feel so welcome," she wrote on Instagram.
During Underwood's Country Radio Seminar (CRS) Q&A on Feb. 21, 2020, an audience question prompted the country star to praise her Nov. 4, 2019 chance to catch GNR's live set at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, which happened to land on an off night from her own Cry Pretty Tour 360.
"We recently went to a Guns N' Roses concert, and it was probably the best night of my life," Underwood said. "I know I'm married and have two kids and there's been some incredible moments, but I love concerts. I love them so much... Every time I go now, I'm stuck in a box somewhere, and I can't feel that energy. It's great, and I get to watch. But we were in the audience, and I was losing my mind, and I didn't give a crap what anyone else around me thought."
