MGK, Simone Biles top list

Fire up the spotlights and roll out the red carpet.

Patricia Barnstable-Brown has released her 2025 Kentucky Derby Eve party guest list and it’s a stunner.

Recognized by Condé Nast as one of the “Ten Best Parties in the World” and a highlight of Kentucky Derby Week, the star-studded Barnstable Brown Derby Eve Gala returns for its 36th year with another celebrity-filled guest list carefully curated by Barnstable-Brown to include an exciting and eclectic mix of the who’s who from the world of sports, music, film and television.

“Everyone always wants to know what Aaron Rodgers is up to,” Barnstable-Brown said of the former New York Jets quarterback. “I know exactly what he’s doing and where he will be on Friday. He’ll be at my house for the party.”

The Barnstable Brown Derby Eve Gala is the place to be on Derby Eve, this year held on May 2, and an event not to be missed for the Super Bowl champion, who will be joined this year on the party’s red carpet by Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, arguably one of the world’s most celebrated and recognizable athletes, who will have the honor of serving as this year’s “Riders Up” announcer ahead of the 151st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Other famous faces include Grammy Award nominated rap and rock artist MGK (formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly) and comedian Tracy Morgan.

“Topping previous year’s lists is never easy. In the past we’ve hosted Janet Jackson, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, but take a look at who is coming this year,” Barnstable-Brown, who co-hosts the party with her son, Chris Barnstable-Brown, at her private mansion in Louisville, told the Courier Journal. “I am so thrilled.”

Known for its diverse handpicked guest list, for 2025, the Barnstable-Brown family will also welcome country music superstars Dierks Bentley, Brantley Gilbert, Mickey Guyton, Brothers Osborne and Little Big Town‘s Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook, alongside actors Blair Underwood, Selma Blair, Wilmer Valderrama of “NCIS” fame and more than a dozen current or formers players for the NFL.

Part of the fun of this party is the excitement that erupts as spectators catch a glimpse of their favorite celebrities arriving by limo at the front gates to the estate. It’s become a tradition for Louisville residents and visitors to the city to set up lawn chairs along Spring Drive in the Highlands neighborhood hours in advance of the arrival of their favorite stars, which this year will also include Lee Brice, Boyz II Men, Joey Fatone, Creed’s Scott Stapp, Travis Tritt, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Doug E. Fresh, Larry and Dannielynn Birkhead, Jordan Smith, Billy Gilman, Nappy Roots and RaeLynn, from NBC’s “The Voice.”

The gala has become famous for its spontaneous music mashups, which never fail to delight party guests. In 2024, while men dressed in tuxedos and women in sequined, drenched ballgowns piled onto the dance floor, Travis Tritt and Kid Rock took the stage together, delivering an electrifying performance of “All Summer Long.” And with so much musical star power headed to the 2025 event, it’s anyone’s guess who will jump onto the backyard stage to perform.

Described as “The best house party in Kentucky” by Chris Barnstable-Brown, the importance of the event reaches beyond the celebrities who attend the annual pre-Kentucky Derby soirée. Since its inception in 1989, the Barnstable Brown Gala has donated more than $21 million for diabetes treatment and research from the proceeds of the annual party.

The donations have led to the creation of The Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, which, in a single year, treats more than 22,000 patients. Thanks to the Barnstable Brown Derby Eve Gala, the center’s focus on diabetes research has led to significant advancements in diabetes treatment and care.

“It’s such a feeling of accomplishment, to be able to throw a great party each year and to be help so many people,” said Barnstable-Brown. “I give so much thanks to the sponsors and are incredible party guests who make this possible. They get the credit.”

Here is the celebrity guest list for the 2025 Barnstable Brown Derby Eve Gala: