National Football League

Fans' no-Nickelback plea nixed

Published Nov. 11, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

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Canadian rock band Nickelback will headline the halftime entertainment at the Detroit Lions' annual Thanksgiving Day game -- despite an online petition to stop the performance gathering 50,000 signatures.

Folks in Detroit -- home to the Motown sound, Kid Rock, Eminem, Bob Seger and countless other artists -- had wanted to see their city represented by Detroit natives at the game at Ford Field and started a petition in the hopes of getting a new Turkey Day act.

But the NFL and the United Way confirmed in a joint press release Thursday afternoon that Nickelback would take to the field, The Detroit News reported.

"We are honored to perform at the United Way halftime show on Thanksgiving Day," Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger said in a statement.

"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."

Detroit grad student Dennis Guttman said this week he never expected to get more than 50,000 signatures in just a week for his Facebook petition.

"This game is nationally televised, do we really want the rest of the US to associate Detroit with Nickelback?" read one post from the online petition.

"Detroit is home to so many great musicians and they chose Nickelback?!?!?! Does anyone even like Nickelback? Is this some sort of ploy to get people to leave their seats during halftime to spend money on alcoholic beverages and concessions?

"This is completely unfair to those of us who purchased tickets to the game. At least the people watching at home can mute their TVs. The Lions ought to think about their fans before choosing such an awful band to play at halftime."

Nickelback's Detroit Lions performance lines up with the release of their latest album, "Here and Now," which will be released Nov. 20.

Lauren Alaina, the season 10 "American Idol" runner-up, will perform the national anthem at the game.
 

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