11 cringe-worthy celeb Thanksgiving parade performances

It isn’t officially Thanksgiving until your entire family crowds around your living room TV to watch a bunch of celebrities make their way down Manhattan streets on an array of gigantic, cheesy floats. Whether you love it or hate it, you can’t argue that Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is a must have tradition. In honor of this year’s turkey day, we decided to take a trip down memory lane and look at some serious throwback videos of our favorite celeb parade performances.

1.  NSYNC, 1998

Holy friggin tbt. We’re taking things wayyyy back to 1998 (just two years after I was born, if I might add) to reminisce upon this Thanksgiving Day parade performance from the original boy band themselves, NSYNC. The dynamic fivesome sang “Tearin’ Up My Heart” in classic 90s ensembles. Justin, we will forever love your yellow macaroni hair.

2. Christina Aguilera, 1999

Vintage AF. Seems like all of our favorite 90’s icons made their parade debut on a giant M&M float. In 1999, Christina Aguilera performed “What A Girl Wants” alongside an array of dancing chocolate candies. If you look closely at 1:32, you can spot the bleach-blonde, teenage Xtina nearly take a fall in her sky-high platform shoes. It’s performances like these that remind us just why we so dearly love the 90s.

3. Hilary Duff, 2003

Our nostalgia for the Disney days is definitely in full gear after watching this video of a 16-year-old Hillary Duff perform her teenage angst-ridden anthem “So Yesterday” back in 2003. The “teen queen,” as the announcers put it, rode in on a 1950s themed float and was decked in full early 2000s fashion. Also, am I the only one who bugged realizing this performance was over 13 years ago?

4. Rihanna, 2005

Picture Rihanna in a white beret on a neon float surrounded by a bunch of dancing animals. You can’t, can you? Well, that happens to be just the case during her 2005 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade performance. The still relatively unknown pop princess didn’t even get to give a full rendition of “Pon De Replay,” which is pretty ironic considering this year’s VMAs were basically dedicated to her. Also, is it weird that we kind of want to see her perform “B*tch Better Have My Money” on this float?

5. The Cheetah Girls, 2005

Don’t lie. You KNOW that The Cheetah Girls had the best freaking Christmas albums. The same year that Rihanna jammed out with a bunch of plastic blowup animals, these three lovely ladies spent Thanksgiving performing “Five More Days Till Christmas” from their “Cheetah-Licious Christmas” album. We’re still really not sure how they managed to pull off full, synchronized choreography on that tiny little stage. We also still don’t know what Cheetah-Licious even means.

6. Aly and AJ, 2005

Remember them? The singing sister duo never failed to bring a bit of rock vibes to Disney Channel intermissions and had me singing along to boy-bashing anthems before I could even fit into a bra. In 2005, they performed “Into The Rush” on a Build a Bear inspired float. NGL, their music is actually pretty good.

7. The Cast of High School Musical, 2006

Where the hell are Zac and Vanessa? In 2006, the cast of HSM was visibly missing its two lead characters for their Thanksgiving day performance of “We’re All In This Together.” Nevertheless, the show must go on and Ashley, Lucas, Corbin and Monique were as adorable as ever. Damn. We miss the era of High School Musical phenomena.

8. The Jonas Brothers, 2006

Why did the announcer introduce them by their full names? Why are they all wearing matching jackets? Why is Joe SO excited? We don’t know. But, we can fully assure that the days of purity rings and Nick’s muppet hair were in full bloom during this performance of “Year 3000” in 2006. I guarantee you’ll have a good laugh after watching this one, especially if you’ve seen DNCE’s latest “Body Moves” music video.

9. Miley Cyrus, 2006

The 2006 parade was lit. Here, we have a prepubescent Miley Cyrus (who’s name was noticeably mispronounced in her introduction) celebrating her 14th birthday by belting out “Best of Both Worlds” on a Build a Bear float. I can still see my 9 year old self pressed up against the screen in anticipation of this legendary performance. Miley, I don’t care how many things you inappropriately lick or twerk on, we will NEVER let go of this version of you.

10. Kanye West, 2010

Leave it to Kanye to wear sunglasses while everyone else is wearing earmuffs and singing Christmas carols. In 2010, Yeezy himself performed “Lost In The World” on a Times Square themed float. We’re digging the fur vest and shimmery gold tank.

11. Fifth Harmony, 2013

Before they reached superstar status, Fifth Harmony was just a few eager teenage girls who’d gotten a shot on X Factor. Check out this video of the adorable quintet making their Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade debut in 2013 on a goldfish float.


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