5 Iconic NFL Thanksgiving Day Halftime Shows That Were Just as Good as the Game (And Maybe Even the Food)

Country-music-loving football fans will tune into FOX on Thanksgiving Day to watch the Giants square off against the Cowboys. And they’ll get a Lainey Wilson concert to boot.

Wilson revealed she’ll play the halftime show. One month ago, she promised sportscaster Erin Andrews she was working on the performance and getting it ready and that Wilson was “so excited” for fans to see what she had been working on.

“It’s some of the hits, and you’re going to be surprised,” she said. “It’s going to keep you on your toes; that’s all I’m going to say.”

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The New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys will air on FOX at 4:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 28.

In the meantime, here are other iconic Turkey Day halftime performances.


2023: Dolly Parton

Will anyone ever forget Dolly Parton walking out in her skimpy Dallas Cowboys cheerleader uniform to sing “Jolene”? Parton wore a white, fringed cropped vest, a blue bra top, white short shorts and covered her legs and torso with bedazzled, flesh-toned spandex. She looked and sounded like the superstar she is. Parton kept the energy pumping with “9 to 5” as the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders danced in formation around her stage. She closed with a cover of Queen’s “We Are the Champions” from her Rockstar album.

2001: Creed

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We’re one week away from Thanksgiving which means it’s time to start watching Creed’s iconic halftime performance from 2001 🎸🙌🦃 #nfl #creed #higher #thanksgiving #dallascowboys #thanksgivinghalftimeshow

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More than two decades ago, Scott Stapp and his Creed bandmates dropped jaws with their high-flying performance of “Higher.” Shirtless men swooped down from overhead, surrounded by white fabric resembling angel wings.

2005: Mariah Carey

While Parton and Creed entertained during Cowboys games, Carey took the field – carried by men dressed as football players complete with a marching band – at the 66th Thanksgiving Day Classic that pitted the Detroit Lions against the Atlanta Falcons. The band formed her initials on the field, and Carey sang “Shake It Off” and “Don’t Forget About Us.”


2015: Luke Bryan

One decade after football players carried Mariah onto the field, Bryan dynamically delivered his biggest hits of the day, including “Kick the Dust Up” and “I Don’t Want This Night to End” surrounded by flames. Then he rallied the Dallas Cowboy’s cheerleaders for some hip-swiveling support during his breakthrough hit “Country Girl (Shake It for Me).”

2021: Luke Combs

In what country music fans will recognize as his quasi-uniform, Combs opened the halftime show with “When It Rains It Pours,” wearing his ballcap and navy blue button-down. The Cowboys cheerleaders twirled and shook their pompoms as Combs sang about scratch-off tickets. He followed with “Beautiful Crazy” and then took off his guitar for a raucous “Beer Never Broke My Heart.”

(Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

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