Wu-Tang Clan will headline halftime of the Detroit Lions' Thanksgiving Day game against the Chicago Bears, the team announced, bringing the storied rap group to Ford Field for the 87th annual Thanksgiving Day Classic on Nov. 26.
The announcement, made by the Detroit Lions, confirms Wu-Tang Clan as this year's featured act for the Thanksgiving Day Classic presented by Ford. The game will air nationally on CBS at 1 p.m. Eastern, according to the Lions, a kickoff time also confirmed by The Detroit News, which reported that the Lions play the Bears on Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m.
Eminem's Second Year Behind the Scenes
This marks the second year of a multiyear partnership in which Eminem and his longtime manager, Paul Rosenberg, president of Shady Records, serve as executive producers of the halftime show and select the talent, the Lions said. That arrangement with the Detroit rap icon and Rosenberg runs through 2027 and covers both talent selection and all aspects of halftime production, per the team's announcement. The Lions also said they have hired Jesse Collins Entertainment to produce the performance itself.
Antonio Cipriano, a film, television and Broadway actor and recording artist, is scheduled to perform the national anthem before kickoff, according to the Lions' announcement.
From Jack White to the Wu
Last year's halftime show featured Jack White, and the same Detroit News report notes that Eminem served as a surprise guest during that set. That cameo turned into one of the more memorable moments of last year's holiday broadcast — the Athletic reported that Eminem joined White onstage for a performance of “Till I Collapse.” The Lions have also featured rappers Big Sean and Jack Harlow, as well as country star Shaboozey, in recent years, according to ESPN.
The Lions say Wu-Tang Clan's Ford Field appearance arrives as the group wraps its global farewell tour, Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber. It is not the group's first time performing in Detroit in recent memory — the Detroit News notes that Wu-Tang Clan headlined the city's Movement electronic music festival in 2018, closing the festival with a set built around its landmark debut album, “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).” The group also played a show at Little Caesars Arena in July 2025, per the same report.
What's Still Unknown
Neither the Lions nor the Detroit News has released a setlist or specified which Wu-Tang members will take the Ford Field stage on Thanksgiving. For now, Detroit fans know only what the team has confirmed: a hip-hop institution closing out its farewell run on one of the NFL's biggest annual stages, with Eminem's fingerprints on the production once again.
