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In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer 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. 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.
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. 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 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.