DETROIT − Growing up in England, Ed Sheeran was intrigued by Detroit, galvanized in particular by one of the city’s musical sons: Eminem.
That’s how Sheeran set the stage for fans Saturday night at Ford Field as he and his band embarked on a rendition of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” They had just rehearsed the song that day, so “let’s see how it goes,” he said, downplaying expectations.
A capacity crowd delighted by the unexpected hometown homage soon erupted with a roar of hysteria. A hooded figure was emerging from beneath the stage, and the reality quickly became clear: Here was Eminem, making his first Detroit concert appearance in years, joining the festivities to perform his signature hit.
The two weren’t done there − after all, you can’t be onstage with Eminem in Detroit and do just one song, Sheeran said. And so began “Stan,” Eminem’s 2000 hit, with Sheeran providing the Dido singing and Eminem delivering his rapped verses as he paced the stage.
“I appreciate you, Detroit,” Eminem said as he and Sheeran soaked in the adulation after their two-song surprise. “I love you!”
The two superstar artists go back several years now, having collaborated on songs such as “River” (2017), “Remember the Name” (2019), and “Those Kinda Nights” (2020), all of them global hits. But Sheeran’s choice to spotlight a pair of Eminem classics on the latest stop of his Mathematics tour was a gesture of honor for the rapper he had long admired.
- Sheeran had foreshadowed the cameo earlier in the night, noting that he had swung by for a bite at Eminem’s Mom’s Spaghetti restaurant downtown.
Eminem’s appearance was the obvious highlight in a two-hour-plus show that found Sheeran expertly executing his own prolific catalog of hits. It happened occasionally with a five-piece band but mostly in the manner that propelled Sheeran to musical aristocracy in the first place: working alone with an acoustic guitar, his voice, and a foot-operated loop station that allows him to build four-minute pop symphonies in real-time.
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