The Bills have picked the most Buffalo act they could find for the first Thanksgiving game they have ever hosted. The Goo Goo Dolls, the rock band John Rzeznik and Robby Takac formed in Buffalo in 1986, will headline halftime when Buffalo plays the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving night, Thursday, November 26, at the new Highmark Stadium.
The club announced the show on Friday, October 30, at 10:14 a.m. ET (4:14 p.m. in Cairo), and the band confirmed it a few minutes later. Kickoff is at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, which is 3:20 a.m. on Friday, November 27, in Cairo.
The Bills announce the Goo Goo Dolls for their Thanksgiving-night halftime show.
A show on the Legends Deck, with light-up bracelets for every seat
The performance will take place on the Bills Legends Deck, and the team says the concert will be visible from all over the stadium. M&T Bank is presenting the show. Every fan will get a PixMob light-up bracelet at their seat, and the bracelets will light up in synchronized patterns, so the crowd becomes part of the show.
“The most Buffalo halftime show is happening at Highmark Stadium on Thanksgiving,” the Bills wrote when they announced it. The band’s own message was shorter: “We’ll be performing at the Bills halftime show on Thanksgiving Night at Highmark Stadium.”
The Goo Goo Dolls confirm the booking.
Why the booking means so much in Buffalo
There had been calls for the band to play the new stadium since it opened this season. OneRepublic and Natasha Bedingfield have already played halftime there, but the Goo Goo Dolls were in the middle of a Las Vegas residency when the building opened. Rzeznik has played for this crowd before: he made a surprise appearance with Billy Joel at a concert at the old Highmark Stadium in 2021.
The band will already be home that week. It is playing two sold-out benefit shows at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo on Friday, November 20, and Saturday, November 21, for the food bank FeedMore Western New York. In September, the Buffalo History Museum opened “Long Way Home: 40 Years of the Goo Goo Dolls,” an exhibit on the band’s history in the city and beyond. “This really makes us feel like part of this community,” Takac said at the opening.
The Goo Goo Dolls have sold 15 million records and earned four Grammy nominations. They hold the all-time radio record for most Top 10 singles, with 15 No. 1 and Top 10 hits including “Name,” “Slide” and “Iris.” “Iris,” first released in 1998, has passed 6 billion streams worldwide, more than a billion of them in 2025 alone, after the song went viral again.
Thanksgiving week halftime shows, with Cairo times
With the Bills’ booking, three of the five Week 12 holiday games now have a halftime headliner. U2 will play at the first Thanksgiving Eve game, as covered in our U2 story, and Miranda Lambert will headline the Cowboys’ 30th Red Kettle Kickoff show, as covered in our Miranda Lambert story. The Lions and the Steelers have not named an act. Cairo times below use Egyptian winter time.
| Date (ET) | Game | Kickoff ET | Kickoff Cairo | Halftime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed Nov 25 | Packers at Rams, SoFi Stadium | 8:00 p.m. | 03:00 Thu Nov 26 | U2 |
| Thu Nov 26 | Bears at Lions, Ford Field | 1:00 p.m. | 20:00 | Not yet announced |
| Thu Nov 26 | Eagles at Cowboys, AT&T Stadium | 4:30 p.m. | 23:30 | Miranda Lambert |
| Thu Nov 26 | Chiefs at Bills, Highmark Stadium | 8:20 p.m. | 03:20 Fri Nov 27 | Goo Goo Dolls |
| Fri Nov 27 | Broncos at Steelers, Acrisure Stadium | 3:00 p.m. | 22:00 | Not yet announced |
The Lions’ Thanksgiving pick is the one fans are still waiting on. Eminem and his longtime manager Paul Rosenberg are executive producers of the club’s Thanksgiving halftime shows through 2027, and last year’s show had Jack White, with a surprise appearance by Eminem.
Before that: the Four Tops at Ford Field on Sunday
Detroit has a Motown act lined up first. The Four Tops will play halftime when the Lions host the unbeaten 6-0 Vikings at Ford Field on Sunday, November 1, at 1 p.m. ET, which is 8 p.m. in Cairo. The Lions announced the booking on Thursday, October 29.
It is the group’s first show at Ford Field since it performed there for Super Bowl XL in 2006. Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last of the four original members, died in 2024. Today’s line-up has Theo Peoples, Ronnie McNeir, Roquel Payton and Michael Brock. Detroit rapper Skilla Baby will perform before kickoff, and singer Caleb Carroll will sing the national anthem.
The Lions welcome the Four Tops back to Ford Field for Sunday’s game against the Vikings.
At the Super Bowl, Jay-Z, as covered in our Super Bowl LXI halftime story, still has not named any guests for his Super Bowl LXI halftime show at SoFi Stadium on February 14.
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