Kid Rock realizes that speaking out about his political beliefs, and being friends with President Donald Trump, cost him certain things in his music career… but he says he values his freedom over anything else.
Robert Ritchie (A.K.A. Kid Rock) has been a recognizable figure in the music industry for over three decades. One might argue that the height of his career played out around the releases of “Cowboy” in 1999 and “All Summer Long” in 2007. But he’s still put out plenty of music in the 2010s, and just recently released a gospel record (we’ll get to more on that in a bit).
In the past decade or so, Kid Rock has been in the headlines more-so because of politics. He’s been a staunch supporter of President Trump from the beginning of Trump’s political career, and as Kid Rock looks back at how everything has played out since 2016, he told Fox News Digital that his relationship with the POTUS has come with a cost:
“My relationship with Trump, yeah, that canceled all the corporate deals coming my way. I don’t really get invited to be part of, you know, things like the NFL or things like that. All the shows that I was so friendly with over the years, from all the late-night talk shows to my friend Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, I don’t really get invited on there anymore. But who’s to stay that won’t change”
I do remember Kid Rock popping up on more late night shows and whatever else back in the day.
Fortunately for Ritchie, he’s not all that torn up about missing out on that stuff. He knew getting more into politics would make him a bit divisive, and is still thankful for all that his music career has blessed him with:
“Honestly, I don’t care. I did think about this when I entered the political arena because I thought it was important for me to speak up for what I believe because I put my country before pretty much everything except my family and God. But, yeah. There’s been things like that, but that’s no sweat off my back.
It’s not like I enjoyed all that anyway. I didn’t enjoy the rat race of the music business. It was very necessary, and I’m glad I did it. And I’m thankful for all the opportunities that got me to where I am today.”
He’s never been an industry puppet, eh?
Clearly, Kid Rock has made peace with where he is in this stage of his life and career… and though he’ll always leave the door open for some of those organizations to welcome him back, Kid Rock says there’s a freedom to what he’s doing now:
“Years ago, when I went on this path to be more vocal and outspoken, I knew that stuff was going to go away. But man, let me tell you what freedom feels like. To be able to speak your mind, anywhere, anytime, and really exercise the freedom of speech that so many brave souls died for.
To be able to express that when I want and how I want and not worry about anything in between… it’s the biggest and most awesome feeling of freedom.”
And about that gospel record I mentioned earlier.
In case you didn’t hear, the “All Summer Long” singer released a new project this past weekend titled Halfway 2 Jesus. Though it might seem like an out-of-left-field move for Kid Rock, the rock/rap/country artist has already had a No. 1 hit song on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart.
His cover of Cody Johnson’s 2022 hit, “Til’ You Can’t,” which featured a new verse about giving your life to Jesus, debuted at the very top of the chart, with over 3.7 million streams and 51,000 units sold.
That, along with the personal faith journey that Kid Rock is currently on, came together to create a new Christian and/or faith-based rock album that he called Halfway 2 Jesus. The album features a collab with fellow Michigan native, Eminem, as well as appearances from Rascal Flatts frontman, Gary LeVox, Lil Wayne and Jimmie Allen.
Here’s a couple of the tracks from the project, in case you haven’t given it a shot:
“‘Til You Can’t”
“James 1:17 (Jesus is King)”
