Six superstars who were a support act in their early days

Everyone has to start somewhere. Whether that’s appearing as an extra in a TV show, warming up the stage for a bigger musician or being a member of the ensemble in a musical - many creatives will kick-start their journey in the background or preparing the stage for someone else.

Being able to say you saw a superstar before they were big is instant bragging rights. Almost every artist has been a support act for a major star and, sometimes, they end up being more popular than those they opened for.

Join BBC Bitesize as we take a look at the musicians who were warm-up acts in the early stages of their career.

Taylor Swift and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill

She’s used to performing in front of thousands of fans, selling out stadiums and breaking concert records but in her early years, Taylor Swift wasn’t always the headline act.

In 2006, Taylor Swift was a rising country artist, having just released her debut album. Her first single was titled Tim McGraw, named after and inspired by her favourite country artist. The following year Swift went on to support McGraw and his wife, Faith Hill, during their tour.

Since then, the trio have remained close friends. In a 2019 interview with Billboard magazine, Taylor Swift said: “I had so many mentors in country music. Faith Hill was wonderful. She would reach out to me and invite me over and take me on tour, and I knew that I could talk to her.”

The trio later reunited 11 years after Swift supported them, during her Reputation tour in 2018.

The Beatles and Little Richard

Oasis, Lady Gaga, Harry Styles - just three massive musicians who have looked to The Beatles for inspiration. But who influenced one of the biggest bands of all time? A few names can take that accolade, Little Richard being one of them.

During the early 1960s, the young musicians from Liverpool were playing the city’s Cavern Club, having fans jumping along to Long Tall Sally and Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey, two Little Richard classics.

In late 1962 everything changed for The Beatles, when they were invited to support the US star at two concerts in Liverpool and several shows in Hamburg, Germany. It might be hard to think of a member of The Beatles being starstruck, but when they met Little Richard backstage in Hamburg, they were mesmerised by the rock legend.

In a TV documentary about the influential musician, The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr recalled: “To play on the same stage as Little Richard was huge. And then, lo and behold - Brian the manager, brought us backstage. Little Richard, you know, was this close, it was so great”.

It was during these support slots that The Beatles also met Billy Preston, who was Little Richard’s organist. He would later work with The Beatles on several of their tracks and play electric piano during the bands infamous rooftop concert.

A few months after the Hamburg and Liverpool warm-up gigs, The Beatles would go on to release their debut album, Please Please Me, in March 1963. And the rest is history…

Destiny’s Child and Christina Aguilera

She’s headlined Glastonbury and toured around the world, but before all of that, Beyoncé was a member of the chart-topping girl group Destiny’s Child.

Made up of Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams and Beyoncé Knowles, the trio had hits in the late 1990s and early 2000s such as Independent Women, Part 1 and Survivor.

In 2000, Destiny’s Child already had two albums under their belt and had success with number one tracks including Bills, Bills, Bills and Say My Name.

It was also the year that saw the girl group support Britney Spears at a concert in Hawaii and Christina Aguilera on her first tour. Although they were pretty successful by that point, they were still perfecting their craft by warming up for bigger pop princesses, and even found time to fit in album signings in local shopping centres during the tour.

After supporting Aguilera, Destiny’s Child would go on to have their own world tour in 2002. The trio went their separate ways in 2005, but have since reunited during Beyoncé’s half-time performance at the Super Bowl in 2013 and at her Coachella headline slot in 2018.

Ed Sheeran and Snow Patrol

When Ed Sheeran first entered the UK charts in 2011, he was just a young person with a guitar playing small venues. Fast forward to 2025, and he’s still playing guitar but instead of more intimate stages, he is playing stadiums around the globe.

By 2012, Sheeran had won two Brit awards and had released his debut album. During that year, he supported the indie band Snow Patrol on their US tour. It introduced Sheeran to audiences across the States and also was the start of a solid friendship between the musician and the band.

Sheeran went on to co-write songs with Johnny McDaid from Snow Patrol on several albums, and they even dueted and performed together at a wedding.

In 2018 the roles were reversed, when Snow Patrol supported Ed Sheeran on his North American tour.

Tina Turner and The Rolling Stones

For many of the artists in this article, all it took was just one concert to cement a friendship that would last. The same can be said for the queen of rock ‘n’ roll, Tina Turner, and The Rolling Stones.

In 1966 Ike & Tina Turner were invited to open for The Rolling Stones on their UK tour, at a time when the duo were growing popular in the UK following their song River Deep, Mountain High.

They supported The Rolling Stones again in 1969, during their US tour which was named one of the 50 greatest concerts of the last 50 years by Rolling Stone magazine in 2017.

The love between Tina and The Stones was a friendship that expanded into the decades and in 1981, she opened for the band as a solo artist. In April 2023, Tina revealed to The Guardian newspaper: “I always had a crush on Mick Jagger. I loved touring with the Rolling Stones”.

Oasis and The Verve

There are very few bands that can get the attention of the media and the public quite like Oasis. From headlines about the Gallagher brothers falling out to their upcoming reunion, the Manchester band have been in the spotlight for over 30 years.

But before the number ones, the sold-out stadium shows and the fallouts, they were just an indie rock ‘n’ roll band playing small venues across the UK. In late 1993, Oasis were the warm-up act for Britpop band, The Verve, who later had hits with Bitter Sweet Symphony and Lucky Man.

Their relationship blossomed from those early years, with Noel Gallagher dedicating Oasis’s track Cast No Shadow to “the genius of Richard Ashcroft”, who was the frontman of The Verve.

It didn’t take too long before Oasis swapped being a warm-up act for the big deal, and in 1997, The Verve supported Oasis at their Earls Court gig in London.

Oasis broke up in 2009 and The Verve also went their separate ways several times between 1999 and 2009. Richard Ashcroft went on to have a solo career and even collaborated with Liam Gallagher on Ashcroft’s single C’mon People (We’re Making It Now).

And who will be supporting Oasis on their reunion tour in 2025? Richard Ashcroft.

This article was published in February 2025