Eminem and Paul Rosenberg are set to executive produce the “Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central.” It could be one for the ages: A blockbuster, all-star celebration of Detroit music will bring Diana Ross, Jack White, Big Sean and a host of other top names to the restored Michigan Central train station as the historic site launches its grand reopening for a global audience. The concert is spearheaded by Ford Motor Co., which spent nearly $1 billion to renovate the site and unveiled the artist roster Monday morning after weeks of buildup.
Branded as “Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central,” the event will stream live on Peacock, then air Sunday on NBC as a prime-time special. The 90-minute, genre-spanning concert — whose lineup includes hip-hop duo Slum Village, gospel stars Kierra Sheard and the Clark Sisters, techno-house DJ Theo Parrish and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra — will mark the biggest convergence of hometown star power on one Detroit stage in decades. The show will also feature visiting artists such as Jelly Roll, Fantasia, Common and Melissa Etheridge performing tributes to the city’s rich music heritage. Additional acts are being booked for the event, sources have told the Detroit Free Press. Monday’s official announcement says the concert will include “surprise special guests.” Presenters will include Detroit Lions stars and veterans such as Barry Sanders, Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown, along with comedian Mike Epps and actress Sophia Bush.
The concert can be watched live at 8:30 p.m. Thursday on Peacock, the streaming service operated by NBC Universal, and will be repurposed for a one-hour NBC special airing nationally at 7 p.m. Sunday. Six weeks after the NFL Draft downtown, the Michigan Central concert is poised to give Detroit another high-profile starring role amid the city’s ongoing renewal. Details were revealed Monday by Ford and Michigan Central after weeks of growing buzz and intrigue about the free event, which will accommodate 15,000 people at Corktown’s Roosevelt Park in front of the restored train station. Tickets have already been distributed. The concert is a marquee moment for Ford as it unveils the resurrected Michigan Central following a six-year, $950 million rehabilitation of the 13-story depot and its surrounding 30-acre campus just west of downtown Detroit.
“We wanted to celebrate the reopening of Michigan Central Station in style and make it a night to remember for Detroiters and people watching around the world,” Bill Ford, executive chair of Ford, said in a statement Monday. “I am honored and grateful that so many of Detroit’s musical legends, sports heroes, artists and innovators are joining us to celebrate the city we all love and the bright future we are creating together.” The streaming and TV production is being led by Jesse Collins Entertainment, a Los Angeles company that has overseen Super Bowl halftime shows, Emmy Awards, BET Honors and other events.
Homegrown hit rapper Big Sean, who kicked off April’s NFL Draft with a live set, figured prominently in Ford’s 2018 public festivities when the automaker bought the train station property. Those artists and the others announced Monday make up the most notable concentration of name-brand Detroit talent to share a bill in many years — likely going back to the 1960s and the Motortown Revues that assembled chart-topping Motown acts at venues such as the Fox Theatre.
If Eminem were to perform, it would be the rapper’s first hometown show in nearly a decade, not counting his onstage cameos with touring acts such as Ed Sheeran and 50 Cent. Eminem ‘s last headlining stand in Detroit was an August 2014 Comerica Park doubleheader with Rihanna. It appears besides producing the show, Eminem will perform at the main stage as today fans heard “Sing For The Moment” soundcheck rehearsal at the place. Slim Shady might also perform his latest hit single “Houdini,” as Denaun Porter suggested few days ago. You can watch the rehearsal video below:
