Ford Field is an indoor American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It is the home field of the National Football League's Detroit Lions. It is owned by the Detroit/Wayne County Stadium Authority. It regularly seats 65,000, though it is expandable up to 70,000 for football and 80,000 for basketball. The naming rights were purchased by the Ford Motor Company at $40 million over 20 years; the Ford family (including Lions owner William Clay Ford, Sr.) holds a controlling interest in the company.
Ford Field was originally planned to be an outdoor stadium, simultaneously with Comerica Park, which opened in April 2000, as part of a public project to replace Tiger Stadium and the Pontiac Silverdome. Ford Field was constructed after Comerica Park, opening in 2002. It cost an estimated $430 million to build, financed largely through private money, public money, and the sale of the naming rights.
The stadium's design incorporates a six-story former Hudson's warehouse, which was constructed in the 1920s. Hammes Company, a real estate development company in Middleton, Wisconsin, developed the new stadium, as well as the warehouse.
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations. Kid Rock released several studio albums that mostly went unnoticed before his 1998 record Devil Without a Cause, released with Atlantic Records, sold 11 million albums behind the hits, "Bawitdaba", "Cowboy", and "Only God Knows Why". In 2000, he released The History of Rock, a compilation of remixed and remastered versions of songs from previous albums as well as the hit single, "American Bad Ass" and the previously unreleased "Abortion".
Kid Rock released the follow-up in 2001, Cocky. After a slow start, his country-flavored hit "Picture" with Sheryl Crow resurrected the album and it went gold as a single and pushed the album's sales over 5 million. It was followed by 2003's self-titled release, which went platinum in the USA and reached No. 8 on the Billboard charts. In 2006 he released Live Trucker, a greatest hits live album that went mostly unnoticed.
Jason Farris Brown (born in Athens, Georgia) known professionally as Colt Ford, is an American country music artist and former professional golfer. He has released three albums via his own Average Joe's label, and has charted four singles on the Hot Country Songs charts. Ford has also written a theme song for Professional Bull Riders, and has worked with John Michael Montgomery, Montgomery Gentry, Cledus T. Judd, and Brantley Gilbert among others.
"Take a hefty portion of Southern charm, add a dash of country livin’, a pinch of urban style, wash it all down with a sweet, fresh sound, and you have Colt Ford. A man with such a blend of unique talents and tastes can only be the natural recipe for this new sound and musical format.(Average Joes Ent.)"
Brown was born and raised in Athens, Georgia. He was a professional golfer, playing in one Nationwide Tour but mostly serving as a golfing instructor. Later, he turned his interests to music, taking influence from country music and hip hop. Assuming the stage name Colt Ford, he released his debut album, Ride Through the Country, on December 2, 2008 through Average Joe's Entertainment, which he cofounded. This album included the singles "No Trash in My Trailer" (a cover of a Gene Watson song) and "Ride Through the Country" (a duet with John Michael Montgomery), the latter of which did not chart until the week of October 10, 2009 when it debuted at #57 on the Hot Country Songs chart. He also appeared on a rap remix of Montgomery Gentry's late-2008 Number One single "Roll with Me." Ford's debut album also has guest appearances from country singer Jamey Johnson, as well as Bone Crusher and Jermaine Dupri, Adrian Young of NoDoubt and Jeremy Popoff of Lit. The album did not enter the Billboard albums charts until 2009.