The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is a good thing, so no slight here. The finish with Santa Claus means we are in full swing for the Christmas season, for better or worse. And the parade has often been a great place to see pop stars lip-synch and high school marching bands perform.
What it hasn't been is the scene for rock bands who don't want to sell their souls simply to get a bit more airtime. Jello Biafra, for instance, would never be asked to be a part and would say "no" if he were asked. The parade is for selling toys and not making statements.
This brings us to Foreigner, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee that is seemingly willing to sell its beloved souls for whatever. For instance, the band offered to be the wedding band for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's celebration. Maybe it was a joke, and maybe it wasn't.
Foreigner will perform at the 2025 Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade
After all, Foreigner is one of the many musical artists on the list to perform at the 2025 Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. The others mostly make sense. There are aging hip-hop stars, the necessary pop stars, random country singers, Broadway performers, and, of course, the Radio City Rockettes.
But the potential of seeing Foreigner faux play and sing their hearts out while performing (possibly) "I Want to Know What Love Is" is just sad. Or maybe the group is aware that they have made very few new fans in the last forty years.
If you want a full list of those well-known performers partaking in the parade this year, the list is below. There will also be 34 balloons, 29 floats, 11 marching bands, but unsurprisingly no Rage Against the Machine or Bad Brains.
- Drew Baldridge – Country music singer-songwriter
- Matteo Bocelli – Italian pop tenor and son of Andrea Bocelli
- Colbie Caillat – Pop-folk singer
- Ciara – R&B superstar
- Gavin DeGraw – Pop-rock artist
- Meg Donnelly – Actress and singer
- Mr. Fantasy – Character-based performance group
- Foreigner – Classic rock band
- Debbie Gibson – 1980s teen pop icon turned Broadway star
- Mickey Guyton – Country singer
- Christopher Jackson – Tony-nominated Broadway star
- Jewel – Folk-pop singer-songwriter
- Lil Jon – Rapper and producer
- Darlene Love – Rock and soul performer
- Roman Mejia – Principal dancer with New York City Ballet
- Taylor Momsen – Rock singer, frontwoman of The Pretty Reckless.
- Tiler Peck – Ballerina with the New York City Ballet
- Radio City Rockettes – You know who they are
- Busta Rhymes – Hip-hop artist
- Calum Scott – Pop vocalist
- Shaggy – Jamaican-American reggae fusion performer
- Lauren Spencer Smith – Singer-songwriter
- Luísa Sonza – Brazilian pop star
- Teyana Taylor – Singer, dancer, and choreographer
- Huntr/X singers EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI – K-pop group