From captain of the Enterprise to heavy metal headliner.
William Shatner will always be synonymous with Star Trek and the commander of the USS Enterprise, James T. Kirk. However, over the course of his illustrious career, Shatner has never shied away from other entertainment mediums, whether it be as an author or a musician. However, the iconic actor is boldly going where he has never gone before this fall.
Shatner will make his debut at this year’s Riot Fest in Chicago as a heavy metal headliner. He shared the news on his Instagram account, which fans can view below, along with a photo of the actor wielding an electric guitar like he is preparing to smash a home run over the Green Monster at Fenway! Shatner wrote on the social media post:
“I am going to be doing a live performance of my new live heavy metal spectacle to Douglas Park in Chicago on Sunday, [September] 20, 2026. This is an event you definitely will be telling your grandchildren about! . I hope to see you there.”
The star-studded lineup, courtesy of Riot Fest’s official website, is loaded with musical talents from all genres, including Iggy Pop, Alanis Morissette, Elvis Costello, the Sex Pistols, plus, “William Shatner and his metal band The *uckers.”
For those who aren’t familiar with Shatner’s headbanging exploits outside of Star Trek, the actor recently contributed to the super group Nuclear Messiah’s album Black Flame.
I’m not sure a music aficionado would qualify Shatner “talking” during the one-minute song “Prophet of Fallout” from Black Flame as singing, but it certainly was poetic, at least, in my opinion. So, I’m more excited than ever to hopefully hear Shatner actually belting out some heavy metal lyrics at this year’s Riot Fest.
While Shatner is only scheduled to appear at Riot Fest 2026 on the last day of the event, the musical extravaganza runs from Friday, Sept. 18, through Sunday, Sept. 20, at the famed Douglass Park on the West Side of Chicago. One, two, and three-day passes are now available at RiotFest.org, and you can also check out the full lineup of musical talent by clicking here.
Are you planning to attend Riot Fest this fall just to see William Shatner’s debut? Share your thoughts and comments with us on his upcoming performance via the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
Today’s best reads
This article was originally published on www.redshirtsalwaysdie.com as Star Trek’s William Shatner will headbang with music legends at Riot Fest 2026.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
