Stagecoach guest predictions: From Thomas Rhett to Beyoncé, here's who we're hoping for

When you've got musicians like Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Jelly Roll, Leon Bridges, Morgan Wallen and so many others on the Stagecoach country music festival lineup, what more could you ask for? Well, we're asking for some equally as amazing special guests.

Hot off of two weekends at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the Empire Polo Club grounds have seen and heard a couple of cool surprise acts, including Kesha, Will Smith, Billie Eilish and many others. With Stagecoach closing out the Coachella Valley's spring music festival season, we hope the country artists on the lineup go out with a bang and treat their fans to some mind-blowing collaborations.

Here are some surprise guests we're hoping dust off their cowboy hats and make their way to Stagecoach this weekend.

Beyoncé

As far fetched as this one might seem, the clues for a special Beyoncé appearance have never been more clear. During the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, a "Cowboy Carter" sky banner and semi-truck were seen around the Empire Polo Club grounds, making us think Beyoncé would guest during that festival. But because her latest album is country inspired, and the fact that many of the artists on the Stagecoach lineup are featured on it, all signs seem to point to the surprise guest to end all surprise guests this weekend. Her "Cowboy Carter" collaborators include Tanner Adell and Brittney Spencer on "Blackbiird," Post Malone on "Levii's Jeans," Willie Jones on "Just For Fun" and Willie Nelson, who is featured on the album's "Smoke Hour" interludes. Specifically, Nelson's set is billed as "Willie Nelson & Family," so who knows, maybe Dolly Parton or Miley Cyrus also join in for "Tyrant," "Jolene" or "II Most Wanted." Any one of these would be incredible to see live, so here's hoping that at least one happens.

— Ema Sasic

Read more: 5 reasons why Beyoncé could surprise us and bring 'Cowboy Carter' to Stagecoach

Carrie Underwood

From one female Stagecoach headliner to another, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood would be a powerhouse duet to witness in person. They teamed up on Lambert's "Thelma and Louise"-inspired song "Somethin' Bad" a decade ago, and these two have the potential to bring the house down at Stagecoach. We've already seen what an Underwood headlining set does to a crowd — everyone was singing, dancing and having the time of their life with the "American Idol" winner in 2022 — so we can only imagine how rowdy the place would get with her as a surprise guest.

— Ema Sasic

Dierks Bentley, Diplo

Elle King will be hitting the Mane Stage once again this year and has the potential to be joined by a few guests. She has a collaboration with Dierks Bentley on "Worth a Shot" off of her 2023 album "Come Get Your Wife." The pop-country song can instantly put anyone in a good mood, as if Stagecoach attendees could get even more excited. Diplo has also become a main feature at the festival — he'll be doing a Late Night in Palomino set on Saturday night and he's still got a HonkyTonk on the grounds named after him — so it would only make sense for him to join King for their song "Without You."

— Ema Sasic

Thomas Rhett

From Florida Georgia Line to rapper Lil Durk to Chris Stapleton, Morgan Wallen has no shortage of big name collaborators. But when it comes to Stagecoach, we're pretty sure he'll bring up Eric Church (or vice versa) to perform "God Made a Bar," although that could get slightly awkward given that Wallen was just arrested for throwing a chair out the window of Church's Nashville bar earlier this month.

But if we had to pick a second guest for country's resident bad boy (and who knows, maybe he'll want one to help reduce the spotlight on himself), we'd go with 2022 headliner Rhett given that their song "Mamaw's House" has become a fixture on country radio since it was released last fall.

This is all assuming, of course, that respectable artists like Church and Rhett even still want to be associated with Wallen after his most recent burst of impropriety, although his many issues have seemingly not stopped artists from wanting to work with him in the past.

— Paul Albani-Burgio

Bruce Springsteen

OK, this may feel even more farfetched than a Beyoncé appearance. But just go with us here for a minute. What's Eric Church's most famous song? "Springsteen," of course. So wouldn't it be cool if the New Jersey legend joined Church (who apparently loves The Boss so much he wrote his greatest hit as tribute to him) on stage to sing a few songs?

Lo and behold, there is even proof of concept here as Church and Springsteen performed Springsteen's "Working on a Highway" together at a charity benefit for current and former members of the military in New York back in 2018. With Church headlining and the 74-year-old Springsteen not getting any younger, it seems like this would be the perfect time to take their shows to one of the biggest stages in country music.

— Paul Albani-Burgio

Dolly Parton

While we're already thinking big, why not go even bolder. Parton is perhaps the most famous living country artist to never play Stagecoach. But we can hardly think of a better way to make her debut than performing with a 91-year-old Willie Nelson. After all, the pair have a long history of both performing and creating songs together.

— Paul Albani-Burgio

Other artists not on the lineup who could surprise us:

• Florida Georgia Line (they're featured on Morgan Wallen's "Up Down")

• Chris Stapleton (he's featured on Morgan Wallen's "Only Thing That’s Gone")

• Maren Morris (she's featured on Miranda Lambert's "Way Too Pretty for Prison")

• Little Big Town (they're featured on Miranda Lambert's "Smokin' and Drinkin'")

• The Pistol Annies (Miranda Lambert's trio with Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley)

Artists on the lineup who we suspect will special guest for each other:

• Elle King to come out during Miranda Lambert's headlining set for "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)"

• Ben Burgess to come out during Morgan Wallen's headlining set for "Outlaw"

• ERNEST to come out during Morgan Wallen's headlining set for "Cowgirls" and/or "Flower Shops"

• HARDY to come out during Morgan Wallen's headlining set for "In The Bible"

Artists we originally suspected but, sadly, will be on a tour stop in another city during Stagecoach:

• Luke Combs (unless he wanted to fly here from Pennsylvania on Sunday and squeeze in an evening set ...)

• Lainey Wilson (and she's not only on tour, but on tour in Europe, so she definitely won't be there)

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Stagecoach 2024: From Thomas Rhett to Beyoncé, here's our special guest predictions