Although hours before showtime the Nashville skies looked dark and ominous, rap superstar Nelly was able to finally take the stage in Middle Tennessee after two near misses at Bonnaroo.
Born Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., better known by his stage name Nelly, was scheduled to perform at the Manchester, Tennessee, music festival in 2020 and again in 2025, but neither performance took place due to Bonnaroo cancellations—one caused by the pandemic and the other by massive flooding at the festival site.
But Tuesday night, Nelly showed the crowd it was worth the wait.
Chingy and Ja Rule opened the show which also had DJ sets pumping out hip hop favorites in between.
When the lights at Ascend Amphitheater went out just before Nelly took the stage, the crowd knew things were about to get ‘hot’. And they did—not because of the weather, but because of the energy cascading off the stage and into the audience, which stayed on its feet dancing all night.
Nelly opened his set with “Where the Party At,” with bass pumping so loud it could probably be felt across the street. Backup dancers gyrated as Nelly rolled through a string of crowd favorites such as “E.I.,” “Country Grammar,” “Ride Wit Me,” “Dilemma,” and of course, “Hot in Herre.”
While Nelly brought out several collaborators — including Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, and his nephew J-Kwon — other featured vocals, such as Kelly Rowland’s on “Dilemma” and Tim McGraw’s on “Over & Over,” were delivered via pre-recorded tracks.
Nelly performs at Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville , Tenn., Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025.
Nelly and J-Kwon performed his hit song “Tipsy,” made popular a second time by Shaboozey’s recent remake, “A Bar Song (Tipsy.) J-Kwon teased the song by saying, “If you don’t know me for my other songs, you sure know me for this one.”
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Several regular concert-goers got to watch the show from the stage, while many others appeared on screens singing and dancing, making the vibe a very collaborative one between Nelly and his fans. Often the DJ would drop the volume of a track to allow the crowd to sing “must be the money,” and other key lines.
Nelly repeatedly thanked the crowd for staying with him throughout his career and certainly brought the party to Nashville to remind them he’s still got it.
Nelly performs at Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville , Tenn., Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025.
Nelly’s Nashville Ascend Amphitheater setlist:
Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at mhurt@tennessean.com or on Instagram at @MelHurtWrites.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nelly concert highlights in Nashville: ‘Hot in Herre’ singer delivers