William Shatner, renowned for his iconic roles and adventurous spirit, has taken on a new endeavor: a heavy metal band, which is set to storm the stage at a major music event.
The 95-year-old actor has been officially announced as a performer at this year’s Riot Fest, as confirmed by festival organizers on Thursday.
The festival’s social media announcement carried a humorous touch, revealing, “After years of writing letters… Riot Fest 2026: Now with 100% more [William Shatner], as he joins with his heavy metal band, The *uckers.” An image accompanying the post features Shatner striking a playful pose—tongue out and devil horns up.
The announcement eagerly highlighted, “Appearing Sunday. Tickets on sale now,” signaling Shatner’s impending live performance with his band slated for Sunday, September 20, at Chicago’s Douglass Park.
In an Instagram Reel shared by Riot Fest, Shatner tantalized fans, saying, “I decided that you’re such big fans of mine, that I’m going to debut my heavy metal record at Riot Fest. I hope that you’re there—and I hope I’m there.”
The show will mark The *uckers first live performance. Page Six has reached out to a rep for the actor.
The “Star Trek” icon’s upcoming appearance at the festival follows an appearance by John Stamos alongside the Beach Boys at last year’s Riot Fest.
Riot Fest followed up the announcement by sharing the actor’s outrageous rider, which included a request to “rename a boat” in his honor so he “can captain a ship again,” “Fire breathers. Many of them,” a “classic Chicago food item” to be named after him, and that his golf cart should be “replaced by a DeLorean.”
Other cheeky demands included “four feet of Polish sausage,” a single pair of white tube socks and a pair of white underwear, and for his dressing room to be themed “Shatner’s Shag Shack.”
Fans on Instagram were delighted by the announcement.
“Stamos in 25, Shatner in 26…Johnny Depp and Hollywood Vampires in 27?” one person suggested in the comments thread, while another joked, “William and his team said I could have free 3 day passes.”
A third gushed, “I’ve never been more excited about a thing I never knew existed 🤯,” while a fourth chimed in, “He can definitely come sit with us.”
A fifth summed it up by remarking, “This is everything.”
The news comes three months after Shatner publicly slammed a Facebook group for claiming he was dying of cancer, alongside AI images of him in a hospital.
“There is a page on Facebook that is using AI to create horrible fake news stories about me,” he wrote while calling out “The Beanstalk Functions Group” for creating “stories that say I have stage 4 brain cancer, was in some kind of fight with Erika Kirk and that I’m dying.”
He continued in the April 2 post, “All their stories are monetized. Most of the stories use an AI image of me.”
The former “Rescue 911″ host claimed that despite a request to move the content, Facebook would “not remove the page.”
He also said he’d been in contact with the group’s “CEO” via X, where he’d publicly requested they remove it.
“None of these stories are true but they apparently seem genuine enough for fans to repost them across social media and send messages of support to me and my family all while the culprits behind the account make money,” the actor wrote.
He concluded, “If you see a bizarre story about me; unless you see it posted on one of my verified accounts take it with a grain of salt.”
Shatner isn’t the first actor to pivot to a career in music this year, as record label Decca Classics announced last week that Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins, 88, will launch his career as a classical music composer with the August release of his album “Life is a Dream.”