Despite the effort of fans petitioning against them, Nickelback will be taking the stage for the 2011 United Way Thanksgiving Halftime Show in the Detroit Lions v. Green Bay Packers game. Kickoff is at 12:30 p.m., and is the first game of the NFL’s tripleheader on Thursday, Nov. 24.
“We are honored to perform at the United Way halftime show on Thanksgiving Day,” said lead singer Chad Kroeger. “We always love playing in Detroit, our fans there have been tremendously supportive of us through the years and we can’t wait to come back and celebrate an exciting day for the Lions and the city of Detroit.”
Kroeger's statement about their supportive fans almost seems like a joke after more than 50,000 Detroit Lions fans signed a petition against the rock band performing at halftime. Locals tried to demand a performer from their city, but this press release comes as a slap in the face to all of the hopefuls. Nickelback will definitely be on that stage on Thanksgiving, so disgruntled Detroit fans are just going to have to deal with it.
The United Way Halftime Show aims to inspire viewers to Live United® and get involved in the community focusing on education, income and health. In the 38th year of their partnership with the NFL, the organization strives to attain their goal of tackling childhood obesity by getting 1.9 million more young people active and healthy. The NFL has built more than 100 NFL Youth Fitness Zones and coordinated more than 1,500 PLAY 60 youth events since the campaign launched.
“We’re grateful to Nickelback for donating their time and resources to the United Way Thanksgiving Halftime Show,” said Tracey Holmes, NFL partnership director at United Way Worldwide. “Nickelback is demonstrating how they Live United® by giving something back during the holiday season.”
The rock band has had 18 singles at the top of various Billboard charts and won three American Music Awards, a World Music Award, a People’s Choice Award, 12 JUNO Awards and earned five Grammy Award nominations. Nickelback’s seventh album, Here and Now, will be released on Nov. 21 as a follow up to their 2008 album, Dark Horse.
The PLAY 60 youth ambassadors from the NFL Youth Education Town- Boys and Girls Club will join Lauren Alaina, Season 10 runner-up on American Idol, for the National Anthem and then help form the fan tunnel during the player introductions.
Alaina recently released her debut album, Wildflower, and has already started to make quite a name for herself. Hitting the Billboard’s Top Country Album Chart at No. 2, she became the youngest female artist to debut that high on the charts since LeAnn Rimes’ debut 15 years ago. She is also the best-selling country female debut since 1996!
Previous performers at the Thanksgiving Halftime Show include: Kid Rock, Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi, Mary J. Blige, John Mellencamp, Enrique Iglesias and the Goo Goo Dolls.
Source: Press Release, The Washington Post
Photo Source: Wikipedia