On Thursday, some of the biggest names in music came together to help Ford Motor Co. unveil Michigan Central , Detroit’s grand former train station which it spent nearly $1 billion rehabbing for its new corporate campus. Even before the acts were announced, interest in the free concert was so great that it crashed Michigan Central’s website . The lineup featured artists from the Motor City and beyond spanning across many genres, including Diana Ross, Big Sean, Jack White, and Eminem, who also served as the event’s executive producer alongside his longtime manager Paul Rosenberg.
The event airs for national audiences at 7 p.m. on Sunday on NBC and its Peacock streaming app.
Rosenberg says that he and Em were approached by producer Jesse Collins to help create the event. They had previously worked with Collins on the Super Bowl LVI halftime show in Los Angeles in 2022.
That show was dedicated entirely to hip-hop, the first Super Bowl show ever to do so. But for the Michigan Central event, the team wanted to highlight many of the genres that put the Motor City on the music map, from Motown, rock ’n’ roll, techno, and more.
“The goal was to cover the broad spectrum of Detroit’s musical history and significance within the concert,” Rosenberg says. “We knew that we couldn’t have everybody perform, so there was careful consideration put into making sure that the artists on the stage represented the important genres of Detroit’s musical pedigree in an authentic way.”
He adds, “This was a celebration of the city, its music and the building’s opening all at once. We wanted the audience at home and in attendance to feel like they were a part of the festivities and to witness something historically significant.”
Performers included Diana Ross (whose classic track “I’m Coming Out” served as a double entendre for the train station’s grand debut as well as Pride Month), Big Sean, Jack White (covering “Hear My Train a Comin’” by Jimi Hendrix), and Eminem, who premiered his new track “Houdini” live. There was also gospel music from the Clark Sisters and Kierra Sheard-Kelly and techno sets by Sky Jetta and Theo Parrish.
Other performances featured a Bob Seger tribute from Melissa Ethridge, Fantasia, and Jelly Roll and a tribute to the late Detroit hip-hop beatmaker J Dilla from Chicago rapper Common, Slum Village, and Illa J. The late Amp Fiddler , who served as a mentor to J Dilla and many others in Detroit, and former Slum Village rapper Baatin were also given shout-outs.
The community’s Irish and Latino demographics were reflected in opening sets by the Gavin Family and Mariachi Femenil Detroit, respectively.
Officials like Bill Ford, Mayor Mike Duggan, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer also helped mark the occasion.
Rosenberg says it’s an important moment in Detroit history.
“Like many other people from Detroit the train station served as a constant reminder to me of how wrong things went for decades,” he says. “The fact that this incredible masterpiece of architecture was restored to its glory serves as a symbol of the perseverance, resilience and the heart that Detroit and its people have. It’s a truly satisfying moment that feels great to share with the world and puts everyone on notice that Detroit is absolutely back.”
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