Luke Combs shut down the third and final night of Stagecoach 2025 with a surprise appearance from the man himself: Garth Brooks.
At the end of Combs’ rousing and surprise-packed headlining set at the California festival, he capped it all by bringing Brooks to the stage.
The pair performed Brooks’ legendary 1990 crowd singalong “Friends in Low Places, a fitting shut-down for a festival that was jam-packed with surprises and star collaborations.
Combs actually started the song solo, according to the Desert Sun, teasing that “something special” was about to happen but not out-and-out revealing to the crowd that Brooks was in the house.
That led to a truly unforgettable moment when the payoff hit and Brooks took the stage, referring to Combs onstage as a “future Hall of Famer” and leading an epic duet version of one of country music’s all-time greatest live songs.
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Their rendition of the song included the “Friends in Low Places” fabled third verse, which doesn’t appear on the radio version.
Brooks often sings it live, and it’s come to be a crowd favorite, with diehard Brooks fans singing the lesser-known lyrics loud and proud along with him.
Fans might not’ve known for sure, but some had an inkling that Brooks was a surprise guest during Combs’ Stagecoach set.
A few hours earlier, the country great posted a video of himself hopping on a plane, singing “Stagecoach never broke my heart” — a reference to Combs’ hit “Beer Never Broke My Heart” — to the camera while he made his way across the tarmac.
Brooks was the grand finale of multiple special guests Combs brought out during his headlining Stagecoach set. Earlier in the evening, Bailey Zimmerman joined him onstage, and the pair performed their as-yet-unreleased duet “Backup Plan.”
Pop-rockers Good Charlotte also joined in on the fun, performing their 2002 hit “The Anthem” as well as a duet version of Combs’ “Where the Wild Things Are.”
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