Eminem joins Jelly Roll on stage at Ford Field, stunning Detroit crowd

Jelly Roll brought out Eminem during his performance Sunday night at Ford Field, surprising the sold-out crowd of more than 46,000 during his opening set at Post Malone’s Big Ass Stadium Tour date at the Detroit Lions’ home.

The Detroit rapper joined Jelly on a rendition of “Lose Yourself,” popping out on stage during the song’s second verse, late in Jelly Roll’s set. Eminem embraced the rapper-turned-country singer and the two closed out the song together, walking down the stage’s long ramp as fans screamed and scrambled to record the moment on their phones.

“Detroit, what up!” Eminem said to the gobsmacked crowd. “Make some noise y’all, I can’t hear you!”

He wore an olive green jacket with its hood raised, a baseball cap on his head and a crisp pair of Air Jordan 4s on his feet. Eminem’s backwards E logo was lit up on Jelly Roll’s stage, as was a logo mock-up of Mom’s Spaghetti, Eminem’s downtown eatery which is named for a line in “Lose Yourself,” Eminem’s Oscar-winning smash from 2002’s semi-autobiographical “8 Mile.”

“Make some noise for Jelly Roll, y’all!” Eminem said as he hit the end of the ramp, raising his hands in the air toward the crowd. He and Jelly embraced again, and Eminem turned back to the crowd and said, “long time no see,” while telling the fans much he loved the city.

Long time no see? That’s a matter of perspective. It’s been since January that Eminem was last seen inside Ford Field, during the Lions’ heartbreaking playoff loss to the Washington Commanders. Needless to say, Sunday’s appearance was a more joyous occasion.

Jelly Roll — the 40-year-old artist born Jason DeFord — hailed Eminem with a series of expletives, and said he is “not only the greatest of all time, but I’m proud to call him my friend.” Last year, the two collaborated on “Somebody Save Me,” a song from Eminem’s “The Death of Slim Shady” album which borrows from Jelly Roll’s 2020 track “Save Me,” and they also joined together on stage at Michigan Central’s reopening concert, with Jelly filling in on “Sing for the Moment,” singing the “Dream On” parts in place of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.

With the cameo, Jelly Roll joins a short list of artists who have brought out Eminem on stage in Detroit, including Big Sean, Drake, Ed Sheeran and 50 Cent. And he’s the first to do it during an opening set.

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“If you can’t tell, that was a childhood dream come f—— true, Detroit!” Jelly said at the end of the performance, thanking Eminem as well as his manager, Paul Rosenberg.

The Eminem appearance was the high point of Jelly Roll’s hour long performance, and it came during a series of covers which also included songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd (“Sweet Home Alabama”), Nickelback (“How You Remind Me”), DMX (“Party Up”), Miley Cyrus (“Flowers”) and Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa (“Young, Wild and Free”).

Earlier in the set, Jelly Roll covered Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll,” calling Seger “by far, the greatest rock and roll artist ever.”

“As far as I am concerned, he is the absolute GOAT, and I will not stand on this stage one minute longer in his hometown and not acknowledge how great Bob Seger actually is!” Jelly Roll told the crowd.