Is there anything better than when your favorite musician gets up on stage with your other favorite star?
On-stage collabs are the cherry-on-top of live performances and one of the delicious bonuses that can happen when you least expect it.
Here are a few of best from 2023.
Taylor Swift & Phoebe Bridgers
Before she set off on "the tour" to support the album and the rest with her supergroup, boygenius, Phoebe Bridgers opened for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour for a dozen shows in May on the East Coast.
Lucky fans at those shows were treated to the women pairing up for "Nothing New," the tune Swift wrote in 2012 for Red but it didn't make the cut back then.
When she re-recorded her Taylor's Version of the album in 2021 she had Bridgers join her in the studio... and then on stage.
Swift live debuted the tune in Nashville on May 5 alongside Bridgers.
Swifties nearly died of joy.
Ed Sheeran & Eminem
When in Detroit there's a few things you might want to do: go see the home of Motown, find 8 Mile, and keep your eyes peeled for a white rapper with mom's spaghetti stains.
But Ed Sheeran is better than us. When he stopped performed at the sold out football stadium, he not only covered "Lose Yourself" and "Stan," but did it with Marshall Mathers himself.
Sheeran later told the legendary Canadian music journalist Nardwuar that Em was returning a favor.
"I went over to play Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with him [in 2022]. I had basically flown on a day off. I was shooting 14 music videos back-to-back, and I had one day off in-between, and that was the day of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame," Sheeran explained.
"So I got on a plane that night, flew, played, got on a plane that night, flew back. When he found out, he was like, 'anything you ever need...'" he said, and Sheeran called in the favor this summer.
Carrie Underwood and Axl Rose
The long-legged American Idol winner has had a delightful love for Guns N' Roses going back to 2006 when she covered “Patience” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” at back-to-back at shows in Indianapolis.
When she first sang with Axl at Stagecoach last year she declared it -- earmuffs, NHL bruiser Mike Fisher, aka Mr. Underwood -- “the greatest night of my life.”
This year the Okie from Muskogee was welcomed into the jungle of Los Angeles by Axl in March when her Denim & Rhinestones Tour made a stop at Staples Center.
But that was just the beginning. Guns had her open for them on a number of gigs in July and August and naturally they brought her up on those dates to rock with them on "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Paradise City."
Snoop Dogg + Doug E. Fresh + Slick Rick
Hip-Hop celebrated its 50th birthday at Yankee Stadium this summer and so many of the stars who gave life to this American music genre were there.
One of the most delightful collabs was when Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick who broke out in the '80s teamed up with '90s kid Snoop Dogg on the classic "La Di Da Di" which included elements of his tribute to it, "Lodi Dodi."
The original tune from the 1986 LP Oh, My God! has been sampled, borrowed, memorized, and parodied in subtle ways by countless rappers and producers but this August during Snoop's moment to shine, he shared the limelight with the rap pioneers.
Doug E.'s human beat box and Slick Rick's sly style matched perfectly with Snoops clear love of the men and the tune. And hopefully it inspired the next generation of rappers to dig deep into the crates for these legendary beats.
Blue Ivy and Beyoncé
Nobody has harder shoes to fill than Blue Ivy.
If she wants to rap, how's she gonna beat her daddy?
If she wants to sing or dance, how is she going to top her momma?
And yet...
When Beyoncé was in Destiny's Child, all eyes were on Beyoncé.
When Beyoncé toured with Jay-Z, all eyes were on Beyoncé.
But when Blue Ivy took the stage on two songs during Beyoncé's Renaissance Tour: all eyes were on 11-year-old Blue Ivy. Which can be both good and bad.
The bad is people - most of whom can't dance - criticized the child for not being able to pull off the complicated and quick dance moves like the professional adults surrounding her.
The good was, it only made her better.
“She told me she was ready to perform, and I told her no,” Beyoncé says in the new film about the tour. When the singer finally gave in to her eldest daughter, and the critics on social media appeared - as they often do - Blue accepted the insights, her mom says.
The sixth grader sucked it up and decided “to put in the work and train even harder for future stops,” Queen Bey said in the film at theaters very soon near you.
Get your tickets to Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé on BeyonceFilm.com.
Quickie collabs we'd like to see more of:
Lady Gaga and Orange Shirt Guy from 2016
Lady Gaga saw a fan in the front row of her gig in Houston mirroring her and her troupe with their dance moves, so she called him up and he was impressive.
Foo Fighters and Kiss Guy from 2018
Dave Grohl couldn't keep his eyes off of a guy with his face painted like Gene Simmons of Kiss. So he did what any normal person would do: hand him a guitar for "Monkey Wrench," and not surprising for Austin, TX, where everyone is in a band, Kiss Guy shredded.
Tom Morello's 12 year-old son Roman and Jack Black, this year
Guitar Hero Tom Morello was hosting a birthday party for his 100 year old mother, Mary. His 12 year-old son Roman and their friends set up instruments and Jack Black showed up. The jam was spectacular.
