Chris Stapleton Returns the Favour and Brings Out Guns N' Roses in Toronto

Chris Stapleton shared the Toronto stage with his heroes last night (Aug. 6) for the second night in a row.

The country music star brought his All-American Road Show to Rogers Stadium in Toronto, and he surprised the crowd with a guest appearance by rock and roll legends Guns N' Roses, returning the favour after they invited him as a special guest during their concert at the same venue the night before.

Speaking to the crowd, Stapleton praised the group and shared his gratitude for the moment, while also explaining how it came to be.

"One of my favourite rock bands of all time in the world was right here on this stage," he said. "About 15 minutes before I got here, I got a call that they wanted me to hop up here. Man, I hopped up with Guns N' Roses last night, so I figured I'd play a Guns N' Roses song tonight. What an experience last night. This is one of my favourite songs and it's called 'Patience.'"

He stopped the song just a few seconds in and told the crowd that something felt missing. A wave of excited and speculative murmurs spread throughout the crowd right before Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan crept up on stage, quickly transforming the chatter into roaring cheers. Stapleton exclaimed that having them present "feels much better," and they launched into singing the 1989 rock ballad together. "Patience" is one of the band's highest-charting songs, peaking at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

Stapleton later shared a jam with Slash, rocking out and playing rapid-fire guitar solos together. They covered Fleetwood Mac's 1969 electric blues track "Oh Well," adding a tinge of country feel to the energetic track.

It's the second night in a row the acts have teamed up to honour an iconic music act, after Stapleton covered Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" with the group on Wednesday Night (Aug. 5). Both concerts acted as a full circle moment for Stapleton, who served as an opener for their tour stop at Nissan Stadium in Nashville in 2016.

All of Stapleton's albums have hit the top 5 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, and he pulled hits from almost all of his LPs during his headline stadium show, including the Canadian No. 1 From A Room, Volume 1. Delivering songs like his top 15 hit "White Horse" and his breakthrough 2015 cover of "Tennessee Whiskey," the country singer once again stamped his status as a global stadium headliner and one of the biggest names in country music, which has since enabled him to invite his own heroes to sing alongside him for over 50,000 fans.

After two nights of surprises between Guns N' Roses and Stapleton, creating viral moments out of two of the biggest tours passing through Canada this year, the Kentucky-born singer is set to return to Rogers Stadium on Sept. 1 for another high-profile night.