William Shatner, the 95-year-old Star Trek legend, is set to launch a heavy metal career with his band The *uckers. The group will make their live debut at Riot Fest in Chicago on Sunday, September 20.
Riot Fest founder Mike 'Riot Mike' Petryshyn revealed that booking Shatner took years of persistence. 'After years of persistently — and perhaps annoyingly — writing letters to William Shatner about performing at Riot Fest, it appears that he was finally compelled,' he wrote in a press release.
The festival jokingly shared a list of Shatner's rider demands, including renaming a boat in his honour and a dressing room themed as 'Shatner's Shag Shack'. Shatner expressed excitement, stating: 'I've always believed that music, like space, is about exploration. Riot Fest is exactly the kind of place where anything can happen.'
The band's lineup includes guitarist Marcus Nand, bassist Phil Soussan, Britt Lightning on guitar, and Fred Achin on drums. They will perform songs from Shatner's catalogue with a heavy metal twist and preview their upcoming album, 'What the F Is Heavy Metal'.
Fans reacted with surprise on Reddit. One user wrote: '95 y/o William Shatner in a metal band was not on my 2026 bingo card.' Another compared him to Christopher Lee, who also explored metal in his 90s. Riot Fest 2026 runs September 18–20 at Douglass Park.
