Music: {allcanada} Nickleback to perform at Grey Cup

Friday, November 4, 2011

{allcanada} Nickleback to perform at Grey Cup

VANCOUVER -- Canadian rock band Nickleback will perform at halftime of the 99th Grey Cup.

The multi-platinum group from Hanna, Alta., was announced as the main act for the Nov. 27 game at BC Place Stadium during halftime of Friday's game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Eskimos.

"For proud Canadians like us, it's an honour to share the stage with the best teams in the league going head to head for the Grey Cup," band frontman Chad Kroeger said in a release. "With Nickelback based in Vancouver, and the game at BC Place, this is a home game for us, and we can't wait to play."

The Grey Cup will be the second halftime show Nickleback plays in a span of four days.

The group is also scheduled to play at halftime of the U.S. Thanksgiving game in Detroit on Nov. 24 between the Lions and the Green Bay Packers.

Some Lions fans have voiced their displeasure with the choice, starting an online petition slamming the choice.

The letter derides the Lions for choosing "such an awful band" to perform and poses the question: "Detroit is home to so many great musicians and they chose Nickelback?!?!?!"

Long a popular target for derision, Nickelback has nonetheless sold nearly 50 million albums worldwide and scooped up 12 Juno Awards.

Nickleback is scheduled to release their seventh studio album, "Here and Now," on Nov. 21.