Miranda Lambert will headline the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving halftime show on Nov. 26 against the Eagles
Miranda Lambert is bringing her catalog to the biggest stage in American sports television. The three-time Grammy winner and East Texas native will headline the Dallas Cowboys‘ Thanksgiving halftime show on November 26 at AT&T Stadium, where the Cowboys host the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys confirmed the booking on Sunday via Instagram, slotting one of country’s most decorated modern stars into a slot that reliably draws one of the year’s largest broadcast audiences.
For Lambert, the fit is close to home in every sense. “There’s something special about how music brings people together,” she said, framing the performance as a chance to continue a Thanksgiving tradition rooted in Cowboys history and tied to the state she comes from. The appearance places her inside a lineage of marquee names who have treated the gig as a national showcase rather than a routine halftime set.
A Milestone Edition of a Cowboys Tradition
This year’s show carries added weight as the 30th consecutive Salvation Army Red Kettle Kickoff Halftime Show, the performance that officially launches the charity’s holiday giving drive each Thanksgiving. The event coincides with the Salvation Army’s 136th Red Kettle Campaign, and over three decades the partnership between the Cowboys and the charity has helped raise more than $3.4 billion, a figure that reframes the halftime slot as a fundraising engine as much as an entertainment booking.
The commercial and charitable stakes are not lost on the organization. Charlotte Jones, the Cowboys’ chief brand officer and co-owner, who previously chaired the Salvation Army’s national advisory board, called the Red Kettle Kickoff “one of the Dallas Cowboys’ proudest traditions.” That institutional investment is part of why the performer announcement has become an annual event in its own right, teased and tracked by fans the way a festival headliner reveal would be.
The tradition dates to 1997, when Reba McEntire became its inaugural performer, and the roster since has spanned genre and generation. Past headliners include Destiny’s Child, LeAnn Rimes, Daughtry, Dolly Parton, Randy Travis, Kelly Clarkson, and Kenny Chesney, among others. Lambert’s booking continues a recent tilt toward country and crossover stars, following Lainey Wilson in 2024 and Post Malone, who played the 2025 edition against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Why the Booking Makes Sense Now
The timing is advantageous for Lambert. A Thanksgiving halftime set delivers a captive national audience measured in the tens of millions, the kind of single-performance reach that album rollouts and tours rarely match in one sitting. For an artist who has spent nearly two decades as a fixture of mainstream country, the slot functions as both a hometown victory lap and a reintroduction to casual viewers who may know the hits without tracking the career.
It also reflects the broader cultural currency country music is enjoying right now. The genre has pushed deeper into the pop mainstream over the past few years, and high-visibility placements like this one, in front of an audience that extends well beyond country’s core, are both a symptom and a driver of that expansion. Booking Lambert, a proven live performer with a deep well of recognizable material, is a low-risk, high-reward call for an event built on mass appeal.
The Cowboys have not detailed Lambert’s setlist or staging, and additional specifics are expected closer to the game. What is confirmed is the headline: on Thanksgiving Day, with the Eagles in town and a 30-year charitable tradition on the line, Miranda Lambert will have one of the largest stages of her career, and she will have it in her home state. The game takes place November 26 at AT&T Stadium.
