Photo by Simoncromptonreid (CC BY-SA)
The Lowdown
Last year Eminem walked out at Ford Field as Jack White’s surprise guest. This year he’s staying behind the scenes and handing Thanksgiving halftime to Wu-Tang Clan, one of the most influential crews in hip-hop history (Detroit Lions; Detroit Free Press).
Key Takeaways
- The Detroit Lions announced on Sunday, November 1, that Wu-Tang Clan will headline the halftime show at their 87th Thanksgiving Day Classic on Thursday, November 26, against the Chicago Bears at Ford Field (Detroit Lions).
- Eminem and his longtime manager Paul Rosenberg, president of Shady Records, are executive producers and chose the act. It’s the second year of their multi-year deal with the team (Detroit Lions; Detroit Free Press).
- The game and the halftime show air nationally on CBS, with kickoff at 1 p.m. Eastern (Detroit Lions; Detroit Free Press).
- Michigan native Antonio Cipriano, of Prime Video’s Off Campus and Broadway’s Jagged Little Pill, will sing the national anthem (Detroit Lions).
The Story
The Lions made it official on Sunday: the Staten Island collective will take the field at halftime of the team’s Thanksgiving game against the NFC North rival Bears. The team’s own post set the tone: “This is a gathering of the masses” (Detroit Free Press).
“Our Thanksgiving Day Classic is one of the greatest traditions in sports, and Wu-Tang Clan is one of the greatest performers in music,” Lions president and CEO Rich Haddad said in the team’s announcement, thanking “Marshall and Paul” (Eminem and Rosenberg) for the partnership (Detroit Lions).
Eminem’s pick, year two
Rosenberg said the booking was meant to surprise. “We often like to do things that are both exciting and unexpected. A Wu-Tang Clan Thanksgiving performance in Detroit certainly fits that description!” he said, adding that he and Eminem have been Wu fans since the early ’90s (Detroit Lions).
The timing works for the group, too. The Lions note that the show comes as Wu-Tang wraps Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber, its global farewell tour, and shortly after its induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Detroit Lions). The farewell run already stopped in Detroit, at Little Caesars Arena in July 2025 (Detroit Free Press).
The Free Press expects the halftime set to start around 2 p.m. Eastern, with the broadcast on CBS (Detroit Free Press).
The Background
Eminem and Rosenberg took over Thanksgiving halftime production in November 2025. Their first show starred Jack White, and Eminem himself crashed it in a hoodie and Lions jacket for a medley of “Seven Nation Army” and “’Till I Collapse.” The 7½-minute set came out the next day as the mini-album Live from Ford Field (Detroit Free Press).
Wu-Tang Clan formed on Staten Island in the early 1990s and broke through with 1993’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). The lineup is RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, U-God, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, Cappadonna and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard. The group has released eight albums together, and its catalog including solo projects runs past 85 full-length releases (Detroit Lions; Detroit Free Press).
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More Context
- Detroit Lions — Thanksgiving Day Classic halftime show to be headlined by Wu-Tang Clan ↗
- Detroit Free Press — Wu-Tang Clan to perform 2026 Lions Thanksgiving halftime show ↗