Fans flocked to their screens Sunday as arena rock icons Journey returned to their roots with a jaw-dropping halftime performance in the NFC championship game.
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“Journey being the halftime show has somehow actually made me even more excited for the NFC Championship game!” one fan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group was born in San Francisco half a century ago in 1973, which made Sunday’s performance at Levi Stadium a full-circle moment as the 49ers faced the Detroit Lions for its sixth Super Bowl bid. The Lions are vying for their first-ever appearance in the big game.
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Journey to Team Up with Def Leppard on Tour
The NFC championship performance is likely to whet Journey faithfuls’ appetites just in time for their 2024 tour with Def Leppard.
The two rock legends are playing shows across America, starting in St. Louis in July before wrapping up their historic run of dates in Denver in September.
Just in case two Rock and Roll Hall of Famers weren’t enough for you to buy tickets, Heart, Steve Miller Band, and Cheap Trick are also joining the 2024 tour.
[RELATED: The 12 Greatest Journey Deep Cuts (Out of, We Assure You, MANY Great Journey Deep Cuts)]
‘Born and Raised in South Detroit’
Journey’s 1981 smash hit “Don’t Stop Believin'” may have some fans questioning the band’s allegiances.
Despite hailing from the Bay Area, former frontman Steve Perry name-checked the Motor City when he famously crooned, “Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit.”
It’s an iconic lyric, the kind that can unite every beer-soaked voice in the bar on karaoke night. One small problem, though: South Detroit isn’t real.
As Vulture magazine pointed out in 2012, most people just call South Detroit “downtown.” Reach downtown and keep heading south, and you’ll find yourself in Canada.
Perry admitted to Vulture that he didn’t exactly brush up on his geography before penning the lyrics to what would become arguably the band’s most-recognized song.
“I ran the phonetics of east, west, and north, but nothing sounded as good or emotionally true to me as South Detroit,” Perry told Vulture. “The syntax just sounded right. I fell in love with the line.”
As did generations of Journey fans after him. We’ll always have South Detroit — in our hearts if not on a map.
(Photo by Rob Loud/Getty Images for Journey)
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