July 22, 1996: The Night Garth Brooks and Chris LeDoux Shared the Stage at Cheyenne Frontier Days
The 125th Cheyenne Frontier Days is saluting the legacy of Wyoming's own country music legend and champion rodeo cowboy Chris LeDoux.
LeDoux had a successful rodeo career in the 1970s. In the 80s, he settled in Kaycee Wyoming and started his musical career releasing 36 albums before his death in 2005. During that career, he performed on the Frontier Nights stages six times. On July 22, 1996, LeDoux performed with his friend Garth Brooks.
That show meant so much to Garth that he still wars the buckle he got that night. For Brooks, the highlight of the concert came when LeDoux joined him on stage for a duet of "Whatcha Gonna Do With A Cowboy".
"That's the buckle I've worn for 20 years. If you see album covers, that's Cheyenne Frontier Days," Brooks said in an interview in 2019. "The last time I played (CFD) was on the 100th anniversary and I got to play it with the best damn guy on the planet by the name of Chris LeDoux. That buckle will forever mean the world to me."
Garth Brooks returns to the stages of The Daddy of 'EM All Friday, July 22, 2021, 25 years after that night in 1996. To make Garth's return even sweeter, Ledoux's son Ned will be opening for him! After the pandemic canceled CFD in 2020, the return of Garth to Cheyenne is the perfect way to get back out into the world and celebrate the legacy of one of Wyoming's favorite sons.
Setlist from July 22, 1996, Garth Brooks at Cheyenne Frontier Days.
- The Old Stuff
- Rodeo
- Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House
- The Beaches of Cheyenne
- Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)
- Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy (with Chris LeDoux)
- Papa Loved Mama
- Shameless
- The Thunder Rolls
- American Honky-Tonk Bar Association
- Fever
- The River
- Friends in Low Places
- Unanswered Prayers
- Callin' Baton Rouge
- The Change
- It's Midnight Cinderella
- She's Every Woman
- That Summer
- We Shall Be Free
- The Dance
- Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)
[Shout out to our friend Rick Roddam for this idea and finding the setlist]
MORE:
- WATCH: Chris LeDoux’s 1976 NFR Winning Ride On Stormy Weather
- New Statue of Chris Ledoux Arrives at Cheyenne's Frontier Park
- We Lost Chris LeDoux But He'll Never Really Die
- Cheyenne Frontier Days Concerts In The 1990s
- CFD Flashback: Lane Frost's Last Ride At Cheyenne Frontier Days