10 Opening Acts Who Became Bigger Than The Headliner

They began as the warm-up for other major stars, but soon turned into the main attraction.

Katy Perry/No Doubt

Gwen Stefani’s alma mater were a fading force in 2009, but had still sold over 30 million albums. Perry opened for them in early August – seven years later, she’s still a global superstar.

Taylor Swift/Rascal Flatts

Tay-Tay stepped in the breach for the country group in 2006 when their previously-booked act was sacked. Two years later her crossover album ‘Fearless’ was released and the rest is history.

Bob Marley/Limmie & The Family Cooking

Back in the early 1970s, the Ohio pop group did a US tour with some Caribbean guy. Turns out to the biggest reggae star in the history of music.

Lady Gaga/The Pussycat Dolls

In a way, these two have something in common – they’re both about image as much as the songs and have a great theatricality to them. Of course, Gaga is actually good.

Muse/3 Colours Red

Remember 3 Colours Red? If you do, you’re probably in a handful of people who loved late-1990s rock groups that weren’t as good as Ash. Luckily, they chose to take Muse with them on tour in 1999 and the latter became one of the world’s most successful guitar bands.

Queen/Mott the Hoople

Mott have their admirers, not least for their incredible Bowie-penned song ‘All The Young Dudes’ and back in 1974 were a big deal despite glam rock starting to fade. Freddie and co. were just getting started. Hoople didn’t stand a chance.

Led Zeppelin/Iron Butterfly

In their heyday the Zep could blow pretty much anyone off the stage and did so when they supported Butterfly at the end of January 1969. The headliners actually sold 30million copies of their hit album ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’, but next to Led Zeppelin they’re a musical footnote.

Destiny’s Child/Immature

Imma-who? You’ve got to remember that Beyonce has been in this game a long time – Destiny’s Child were originally called Girl’s Tyme (with a different line-up) and before they scored a record deal they worked hard to make a name for themselves. That meant supporting cheesy R&B-ers Immature, who eventually changed their name to IMx. It didn’t help.

AC/DC/UFO

English heavy metallers UFO are considered hard rock pioneers, but their support act in 1976 turned out to be an Aussie stadium act who have sold more than 200 million albums worldwide, making them one of the best-selling bands ever.

Guns N’ Roses/The Cult

One of the most important things to remember when booking an opening act – don’t hire someone who’ll upstage you. Yorkshire goth band The Cult did just that on their 1987 US tour, though Axl Rose, Slash and co. were completely unknown at the time.

Image credits: Rex_Shutterstock, Getty