Detroit Fans Outraged as Journey Changes “Don’t Stop Believin’” Lyric at Lions-49ers Halftime Performance

Detroit Lions took on the San Francisco 49ers for a spot in the Super Bowl, and the band Journey came out to perform. However, they notably swapped up the lyrics to one of their most popular songs, and fans aren’t happy.

Videos by American Songwriter

Journey performed a rendition of “Don’t Stop Believin’” for the stadium. The song famously features the lyrics “Born and raised in South Detroit.” However, the band swapped the lyrics to “Born and raised in San Francisco” for the performance.

Detroit Lions were understandably upset by the shift in the lyrics. They took to social media to complain about the change (even if many praised Journey’s performance).

One X user cast blame on the band for the Lions loss on Sunday. “Journey played at halftime of Lions-49ers and changed the lyrics to Don’t Stop Believing — singing, “Just a city boy, born and raised in San Francisco,” he wrote. It’s probably Journey’s fault the Lions lost.

Another person wrote about the performance, “Aww 🥹 Arnel changed the Detroit lyrics to San Francisco. & he has a voice that sounds so good in a stadium. Long live Journey & long live Arnel Pined.”

Sports fans are notably superstitious when it comes to games. Some Lions fans think that Journey might have jinxed their chances of making it to the Super Bowl. For a while, the Lions appeared to be having their moment in the sun.

However, the team notably fumbled the chance in the fourth quarter, suffering a devastating 34 to 31 lost to the 49ers. It left Lions coach Dan Campbell telling USA TODAY, “You feel like you got your heart ripped out.”

[Get Tickets to See Journey Perform Live]

Some Fans Rally Around Journey

However, not everyone was upset. Some fans (probably 49er fans if we’re being honest) took to social media to explain the history of the band. In response to a tweet from Skip Bayless calling the song a Detroit anthem, many pointed out that the song is actually about San Francisco.

One person wrote, “OL – Journey is a San Francisco band – they changed the lyrics @ Levis 😅 And don’t forget it was the SF Giants World Series anthem @ the start of the running winning multiple World Championships”

Journey’s hometown is San Franscisco as that’s where the band formed. So essentially, they were born and raised in the city.

[Photo by Rob Loud/Getty Images for Journey]

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission

Leave a Reply

More From: Latest Music News & Stories

You May Also Like