From Rihanna to Aerosmith, find out who these icons opened for back before they were headliners.

Rihanna opening for Pussycat Dolls

Rihanna tagged along for the European leg of The Pussycat Dolls’ PCD World Tour in 2006, promoting her second album A Girl Like Me. Now, with eight albums into her career, Rihanna is not only headlining her own tours, but she’s heading up festivals. She’s got eight Grammys and doesn’t look like she’s stopping at all. But it’s still fun to revisit the days when she’d sing “S.O.S.” and “Unfaithful” onstage with simple production and four leotard-clad dancers.

Taylor Swift opening for Rascal Flatts

Back before Taylor Swift was selling out stadiums, she was playing her country tunes for the fans of much bigger acts. She’s opened for Tim McGraw (appropriate, since she used his name for her first single) and Faith Hill, George Strait, Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts. Her days opening are far behind her, and in 2013, she invited Rascal Flatts to play onstage with her at her Red Tour.

Fall Out Boy opening for Punchline

In 2003, Fall Out Boy and Fueled By Ramen labelmates Punchline opened for Less Than Jake together. A year later in the summer of 2004, Fall Out Boy supported Punchline in Japan, where they had a decent following. FoB was promoting the release of Take This To Your Grave and were a year away from mass popularity when Under The Cork Tree went double platinum.

Blink 182 opening for 7 Seconds

Blink 182 was just starting out when they got invited to the GoodTimes Tour in '95 and '96. The trek supported a surf video and had the future pop-punk icons opening for 7 Seconds, a band from Reno, Nevada. Originally, Blink was going to turn down the invite because they couldn't afford to travel, but fellow touring band Pennywise paid for their plane tickets, and the rest is history.

Aerosmith opening for Sha Na Na

While it’s hard to imagine the legendary Aerosmith opening for anyone, the Bad Boys from Boston have opened for Mott The Hoople and The Kinks. There are stories floating around the internet from people at a show where Aerosmith opened for Sha Na Na in the early ‘70s, when Aerosmith’s “Dream On” was just starting to take off. Sha Na Na had oodles of fame back in the day, with a spot at Woodstock and their own TV show, but Aerosmith went on to sell multi-platinum albums and get inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.