Diana Ross and Big Sean celebrate the resurgence of the Detroit disease

DETROIT (AP) – Countless of Detroit’s biggest music exports, including Diana Ross, Eminem and Jack White, took the stage in a pulsating sonic spectacle that took place on the eve of the historic reopening of the 18-story constructing that has long symbolized their family’s demise cities.

Detroit rap duo Slum Village and Common also paid tribute to J. Dilla, the late legendary hip-hop producer.

Thursday night’s 90-minute-plus “Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central” program celebrated the city’s renovated train station, which is able to reopen to the public on Friday, six years after Ford Motor took control of the constructing What. and over thirty years since the last train sailed.

The empty Michigan Central Station fell into disrepair and became a logo of the decline of the Motor City. That was until 2018, when Ford announced it was purchasing the constructing and adjoining facilities as part of the automaker’s plans for a campus focused on autonomous vehicles.

“Six years ago we gathered here and dreamed of what was possible. We dared to dream that this station, which had become a symbol of a ruined city, could once again shine as a symbol of the Motor City,” Bill Ford, president of the company that gave him its namesake, told the audience before Ross, a Motown superstar, kicked off the ceremony with “I’ m Coming Out.”

The sold-out, ticketed outdoor event, streaming survive Peacock, also featured performances by Big Sean, Clark Sisters, Common, Fantasia, Melissa Etheridge and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Presenters included Detroit Lions legend Barry Sanders, current Lions stars Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown and actors Taylor Lautner and Sophia Bush. Organizers say that 20,000 people took part in the event. Over 60,000 persons are expected to go to the railway station in the next 10 days.

“For most of my life it was just a real eyesore,” Big Sean said of the train station. “It’s an oasis in the middle of the city. It’s a metaphor for all of us: now’s our time.”

The executive producers of the concert were Eminem and his longtime manager Paul Rosenberg. Eminem didn’t perform, but surprised those in attendance by closing the show with a rousing set that included his recent single “Houdini,” in addition to “Not Afraid” and, most appropriately, “Welcome 2 Detroit.”

Eminem’s performance can have been the highlight, but White’s performance wasn’t far behind.

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Announcing that he and his band were “going to play some songs tonight that were written a few blocks from here,” White received a thunderous response when he began strumming the opening chords of the anthem “Seven Nation Army,” which he recorded while a member of The White Stripes. White, who grew up near MCS, held his guitar high above his head with one hand as pyrotechnics illuminated the station behind him.

The massive structure, towering high above Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, has been destroyed over the years by scavengers and urban explorers. The station will now function an anchor for a sprawling 30-acre (12-hectare) mobility innovation district and a resurgent Corktown. The project is predicted to generate hundreds of technology-related jobs. Restaurants, recent hotels and other service industry businesses are already moving into and around Corktown.

The reopening of the train station also comes as Detroit is experiencing a renaissance.

Ten years after emerging from painful bankruptcy, the city has stabilized its funds, prevented population loss, and made progress in eradicating blight across its 139-square-mile (360-square-kilometer) area. In April, Detroit set an NFL draft attendance record when greater than 775,000 fans flocked to downtown over three days.

“I just love seeing everyone in our town happy,” Ford said.