Detroit Rallies to Have Nickelback Booted from Football Game

At 24,000 signatures and counting, a petition is set to put an end to Nickelback's halftime performance on Thanksgiving. Godspeed.

Detroit has had a rough few years, but one thing that Motown simply will not stand for is to have Nickelback play the halftime show of the Detroit Lions' classic Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Green Bay Packers. The platinum-selling quartet from Hanna, Alta., is slated to play during one of the most-watched football games of the year (and for the first time in years, a game that actually has meaning, as the oft-terrible Lions are now 6-2 and are duking it out with Green Bay for the NFC North division lead. Anyhow...). But a petition launched yesterday on change.org is calling on the Lions to show Nickelback the door in favour of, well, just about anything else. After all, Detroit is the home of Motown, MC5, the White Stripes, Eminem, J-Dilla, Bob Seger, Aretha Franklin ... basically, it's up there with New Orleans and Nashville as far as musical legacy goes.

As to why organizers thought that a much-hated Canadian rock band would be fitting entertainment for the most American of American occasions – freakin' football on Thanksgiving – no one's quite sure. (We should note that a fan campaign led to Nickelback getting cut from the Winnipeg Jets' season-opening ceremonies as well). The gig was slated to promote the 'Back's new album out later this month, but it's not like they really needed the extra airtime, as it will still probably sell millions of copies somehow. So far, more than 24,000 people have signed the petition. And if you love music, football, or Detroit, we recommend you do so as well. Heck, we're Packers fans, and even we wouldn't wish this upon our division rivals.