It’s a Thanksgiving tradition: the Detroit Lions in action for the NFL’s holiday slate of games.
The league leaned even more into tradition with its matchup choice, the Green Bay Packers. These teams have played each other 190 times – the third-most of any two-team matchup in the NFL. The only two matchups to see more games in NFL history are between these two teams and NFC North rival Chicago.
These teams last played each other on Thanksgiving in 2023, with the Packers earning a 29-22 win on the holiday that year to deny Lions coach Dan Campbell his first Thanksgiving win.
These two teams faced off to open the regular season. In Week 1, the Packers’ defense featuring recent trade acquisition Micah Parsons held the Lions’ offense in check to earn a 27-13 win. Twelve weeks later, the teams are even with seven wins each. Both franchises figure to be prominently featured in the NFC playoff race.
During the halftime break in play between these two playoff contenders, football fans can enjoy some entertainment from Ford Field by a Detroit native.
Who did the Lions pick for their halftime show? Here’s what to know about the halftime performer for the Thanksgiving matchup between the Lions and Packers.
Who is the Lions’ Thanksgiving halftime show performer?
Jack White will provide the halftime entertainment during the Lions’ Thanksgiving game against the Packers.
Detroit announced that the Grammy Award-winning musician would headline the show on Nov. 16. The franchise touted White, a Detroit native, and his ‘innovative guitar work and raw vocal style’ that have brought him international fame. White is one half of the rock duo The White Stripes and they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Nov. 8.
Who is Jack White?
White is a 50-year-old musician who rose to prominence with his then-wife Meg White in the late 1990s as The White Stripes. The duo released a self-titled album in 1999 and followed that with ‘De Stijl’ a year later. They divorced in 2000 but continued to make music together.
The White Stripes’ following two albums, ‘White Blood Cells’ and ‘Elephant,’ brought the band to international prominence. Those albums featured some of the most popular songs in the band’s discography, including ‘Seven Nation Army,’ ‘We’re Going to Be Friends’ and ‘Fell in Love With a Girl.’
The duo won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album for ‘Elephant’ in 2004 and ‘Icky Thump’ in 2008.
‘Elephant’ is the band’s most successful album, reaching double platinum status with more than 2 million copies sold as of March 2023, per the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). ‘Icky Thump’ and ‘White Blood Cells’ both went platinum in October 2011 and January 2011, respectively.
The White Stripes broke up in 2011 but White continued to make music.
In 2005, White founded The Raconteurs with more Detroit-based musicians. White and Brendan Benson wrote the band’s most successful song ‘Steady, As She Goes’ and then created a band with Jack Lawrence on bass guitar and Patrick Keeler on drums. White and Lawrence then formed The Dead Weather in 2009. The Raconteurs disbanded from 2014 to 2018 and The Dead Weather have been on hiatus since 2015.
White’s also released six studio albums as a solo artist:
Blunderbuss (2012)
Lazaretto (2014)
Boarding House Reach (2018)
Fear of the Dawn (2022)
Entering Heaven Alive (2022)
No Name (2024)
Is Jack White a Lions fan?
White hasn’t spoken publicly about his Lions fandom. He’s an avid Detroit Tigers fan and his brother worked in concessions at Tiger Stadium for years. In May, White joined the broadcast for a Tigers’ game against the Colorado Rockies following the announcement that The White Stripes would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
White went viral for his clips talking about the Tigers’ players and his earliest memories at Tigers Stadium.
He threw out a first pitch for the Tigers in July 2014.