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Wu Tang Clan will headline the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving halftime show on Thursday, November 26.
The Staten Island collective performs at Ford Field as Detroit hosts the Chicago Bears.
The game is the 87th annual Thanksgiving Day Classic for the Lions.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Eastern, with the game televised nationally on CBS.
Major Takeaways
Wu Tang Clan headlines the Lions Thanksgiving halftime show on November 26 at Ford Field.
Eminem and Paul Rosenberg picked the group as executive producers of the holiday show.
The group enters the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on November 14 in Los Angeles.
A dedicated SiriusXM channel runs from November 4 through December 1 on the app.
Wu Tang Clan performs at Exit Festival in 2023. Photo by Miloš Krstić via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0.
A Thanksgiving Stage Built by Detroit Rap Royalty
The Lions announced the booking on Sunday, November 1.
Eminem and his longtime manager Paul Rosenberg serve as executive producers of the show.
Rosenberg is president of Shady Records, the label Eminem built in Detroit.
This is the second year of their multiyear partnership with the team.
Under that deal, the pair select the talent and shape the creative direction.
Jesse Collins Entertainment handles production of the halftime presentation.
Rosenberg called the booking a move that is both exciting and unexpected.
He said both men have been Wu fans since the early 1990s.
He added that a whole generation of Detroit football fans grew up on the group.
Lions president and chief executive Rich Haddad praised the tradition and the act.
He called the Thanksgiving Classic one of the greatest traditions in sports.
He called Wu Tang Clan one of the greatest performers in music.
Actor and recording artist Antonio Cipriano will perform the national anthem.
Cipriano is a Michigan native who works across film, television and Broadway.
Last Thanksgiving, Jack White headlined the show at Ford Field.
Eminem surprised that crowd by joining White on stage during the set.
Ford Field in downtown Detroit, home of the Lions. Photo by Tony Webster via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.
Wu Tang Clan Month Peaks With a Hall of Fame Night
The Detroit stage arrives near the end of a landmark month for the group.
Wu Tang Clan will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on November 14.
The ceremony takes place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles at 7 p.m.
The group earned the honor on its very first nomination this year.
The performer class also includes Sade and the late Luther Vandross.
Phil Collins, Oasis, Iron Maiden, Billy Idol and Joy Division New Order join them.
Queen Latifah and MC Lyte receive Musical Influence honors in the same class.
Fela Kuti and Celia Cruz also receive Musical Influence honors this year.
That lineup puts Black music at the center of the night in every category.
The recorded ceremony airs December 8 on ABC and streams on Disney Plus.
Between the induction and Thanksgiving, the group also marks Wu Tang Clan Day.
New York City honors the anniversary of the landmark 1993 debut album.
That album is Enter the Wu Tang, known everywhere as 36 Chambers.
More than three decades later, its sound still shapes rap records released today.
A Full Month of Wu on SiriusXM
The celebration starts before the Hall of Fame ceremony even begins.
SiriusXM launches The Wu Tang Clan Channel on its app on November 4.
The channel runs through December 1 and is presented by Rock The Bells Radio.
Programming includes classic anthems, essential album cuts and iconic solo projects.
Listeners will also hear live performances and exclusive interviews with group members.
Rare stories behind the music fill out the schedule across the month.
Rock The Bells Radio, the LL Cool J station, sits on channel 43.
That station will devote every Wednesday in November to the group.
Those Wu Wednesdays bring music, commentary and personal reflections on the legacy.
Members will sit for a Front Row question session in Los Angeles on November 12.
Host Peter Rosenberg leads that conversation before a live studio audience.
The full conversation airs November 13 at 6 p.m. Eastern on both channels.
It stays available on demand on the app after that first airing.
Wu Tang Clan performs at Glastonbury Festival in 2019. Photo by Simoncromptonreid via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0.
Why This Run Matters Beyond the Music
Wu Tang Clan formed on Staten Island in the early 1990s.
The members are RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah.
U God, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck and Cappadonna complete the living roster.
The late Ol Dirty Bastard remains a founding voice of the collective.
The group has released eight albums together across its long career.
Three of those group albums have reached quadruple platinum sales.
Counting solo projects, the full catalog spans more than 85 full length releases.
Members built solo careers that could stand beside the group work itself.
The empire grew into clothing lines, videogames, books, film and television.
For Black artists, that blueprint showed ownership could grow with the art.
The group arrives in Detroit as it wraps a global farewell tour.
The tour is called Wu Tang Forever, billed as The Final Chamber.
A farewell run could have stayed quiet and nostalgic for longtime fans.
Instead, November brings a Hall of Fame stage, a radio takeover and football.
Thanksgiving Day puts that legacy in front of families across the country.
Grandparents who bought 36 Chambers can watch beside grandkids hearing it fresh.
Detroit adds its own weight, a Black music city honoring a Black music institution.
Eminem producing the moment ties Detroit rap history to New York rap history.
Families planning holiday viewing can find more in our Entertainment coverage.
Read our recent Wu Tang film coverage on the secret album saga behind the group.
Our BigXthaPlug album story shows a younger Texas star building on an independent path.
