Guest appearance

In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other performing group. In music, such an outside performer is often referred to as a guest artist.[1] In performance art, the terms guest role or guest star are also common, the latter term specifically indicating the guest appearance of a celebrity. The latter is often also credited as special guest star or special musical guest star by some production companies.

This article possibly contains original research. (April 2018)

In pop music and hip-hop, such guests are often referred to as featured artists or featured guests. Such a performer may be annotated in credits or even in song titles by the abbreviation feat. or further abbreviation ft.; or by the word with or abbreviation w/.

In a TV series, a guest star is an actor who appears in one or a few episodes (sometimes a story arc). In some cases a guest star may play an important recurring character and may appear many times in a series, despite not being a member of the main cast; they may ultimately be asked to join the main cast if their role continues. The title special guest star is typically used in television for a celebrity guest, but it is also occasionally used for a regular cast member—-usually for an actor or actress who is featured heavily but joined the show after the rest of the cast was signed. The first regular cast member in a TV series to be credited as special guest star was Jonathan Harris in Lost in Space.

The specific credit and billing given to a given performer—"starring," "guest star," "special guest star," "also starring," etc.—is a matter negotiated between the production and the performer or their agent.

In nonfiction radio and television shows, a guest star is a guest on the show who is a celebrity or other noteworthy interviewee or commentator.