Lil Nas X To Make Guest Appearance At Stagecoach With Billy Ray Cyrus
Stagecoach has become the latest stop along the ever-expanding trail that is “Old Town Road,” with horse-riding rapper Lil Nas X planning his first-ever public performance of the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit at the country music festival.
The Atlanta rapper will appear with Billy Ray Cyrus at the three-day festival in Indio, Calif., to perform the hip-hop and country crossover song, sources confirmed to Billboard. The 80,000-person festival that follows Coachella is known for surprise guests making appearances during big sets — in 2016, Sam Hunt brought out Snoop Dogg and G-Eazy, and last year Florida Georgia Line brought out “Yodel Kid” Mason Ramsey and Jason Derulo.
But an appearance by Lil Nas X would be a watershed moment for Stagecoach, which has embraced genre-bending acts and artists who don’t fit neatly with country music. This year, former Poison frontman Bret Michaels is performing a set at Stagecoach, as is Welsh singer Tom Jones. Dance music artist and producer Diplo is closing out this year’s festival with an afterparty at Stagecoach’s Palomino stage. On Wednesday, Diplo unveiled a new country project called Thomas Wesley — his birth name is Thomas Wesley Pentz — with a new song “So Long” featuring Cam, who plays Stagecoach’s Mane Stage on Saturday.
Lil Nas X is slated for a big summer: “Old Town Road” is currently No. 1 on the Hot 100 for a third straight week. Helped by its hugely popular remix that features Cyrus, the song broke the single-week streaming record previously held by Drake’s “In My Feelings” (116.2 million) with 143 million streams in the week ending April 11, according to Nielsen Music. Lil Nas X has also been added to the lineup for Texas’ new hip-hop festival JMBLYA, which hits Dallas on May 3 and Austin on May 4. He’s also playing the Days of Summer Cruise Fest, with Cardi B and Post Malone (June 28-30), which travels from Miami to the Bahamas. Last month, Lil Nas X signed to Columbia Records and received a co-sign from Justin Bieber.
This article originally appeared on Billboard.