Mayer Hawthorne Plays His Own Halftime Show as Nickelback Alternative

Earlier this month, soul singer Mayer Hawthorne campaigned in the Rolling Stone studio to replace Nickelback as the halftime performer for the big Detroit Lions home game on Thanksgiving Day after many loyal Lions fans attempted to get the rockers kicked off the bill. Nickelback is keeping the gig after all, but that's not stopping Hawthorne from celebrating Thanksgiving – and the Lions – in style today. In this Hawthorne Halftime performance, the Detroit native broadcasts his own show from his parents' house, with his own dad on bass, exclusively on RollingStone.com. "I'm gonna play a short medley of favorites and some songs especially for Detroit," says Hawthorne. "The band will be all local musicians from Detroit. We'll be watching the game upstairs!" 

Dennis Guttman, who started the campaign to have Nickelback replaced, applauds Hawthorne's efforts for the cause. "It's a great idea. I'm glad Mayer Hawthorne is willing to step up for our community in our time of need," he says. "Kudos to Hawthorne and Rolling Stone for being responsive to the fans' demands. I'm sure he'll put on a hell of a show, and I hope the NFL and United Way keep him in mind for next year."

Below, watch Hawthorne's announcement of the show, and his original Mayer4Detroit campaign video.

Related
• Mayer Hawthorne on Loving Detroit
• Detroit Lions Fans Furious About Nickelback Halftime Booking

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”