Kid Rock and Glenn Beck explore political polarization, with Kid Rock proposing a White House dinner featuring Bill Maher to unite America despite his frustration over transgender issues and far-left protests. They discuss shared conservative values with Elon Musk regarding AI and non-conformity, while Kid Rock criticizes the exploitative music industry. The conversation shifts to JD Vance's emotional reception in Europe, questioning NATO unity, before detailing Kid Rock's upcoming "Rock the Country Music Festival" designed for small towns. Ultimately, both hosts argue that despite media-driven division, Americans share common values and that tools like AI can serve creative growth rather than destruction. [Automatically generated summary]
Today, I sit down with a man who refuses to be put into a box.
He's an enigma in some way.
He's conservative, but he's also a rock star.
He's country, yet he's hip-hop.
He loves Jesus, but he drops the F-bomb whenever he wants to.
He is whoever he wants to be.
And in that way, he is a red-blooded, old-fashioned American hero.
I mean, he's a cowboy, except he's not a cowboy.
He's from Detroit.
He does not comply to any kind of tyranny in any way.
He won't be politically correct, and he's not going to stop loving his country, even when it's unpopular, and it costs him friends or even audience.
We get into everything today, from the rodeo to rock and roll to his plans to bring his liberal friend Bill Maher to someplace you would least expect.
And we also talk about Elon Musk and AI.
Please welcome the original American badass, Kid Rock.
Before we get into Kid and the interview, let me just tell you right now, the average American is still finding it difficult to pay expenses every single month.
In some cases, there's nothing left over to cover an ink dextras.
I don't have to tell you this.
You might be even one of those people.
And you are going to feel trapped if you don't already.
I remember several times in my life just not being able to cover everything and juggling.
It can be so hard to manage emotionally, financially.
And I'm an avoider.
I just would avoid as much as I can or you grab the credit cards.
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Hey, kid, how are you?
Good.
Nice to see you, Glenn.
Yeah, nice to see you.
I have to tell you, I don't get nervous for interviews or anything, but you're a cool kid, and I've never been the cool kid.
I feel like I'm going to be sitting in the lunchroom and I'm about to be beaten up.
No, you got me pegged right.
The Independent Spirit of the West00:04:37
I'm not the cool kid.
Yeah.
Well, you are now.
I mean, you have been off and on off.
Absolutely.
With half the country.
With half the country.
What's the other half?
Have you lost a lot?
Has this cost you anything?
No.
Friends?
I was talking to a friend about it.
No, I kind of, you know, not really.
Not really.
It's, I mean, I'm just an honest person.
I love my country.
That's kind of how simple it is.
But so it wasn't really, you know, it came to a point where it wasn't, once you've seen behind the curtain in this business, I know.
It's just.
freaking awful.
Yeah.
It's disgusting.
And just didn't want to play that game, you know, with the awards and this, that, and the other and the politics involved with this and that and the radio and all that.
And I'd say for a rainy day, that definitely was a factor in things.
Yeah.
And I just, you know, I've always said I don't give a F.
And that's very true in a lot of ways, but it's kind of thin.
It kind of thinned things out.
I'm sorry, to make the point for your question was, it's like, you know, you do something and your friends, you get this group of friends, it kind of turns their back on you.
Yeah.
You're like, perfect.
I just weeded out the idiots.
Right.
You know what I mean?
It makes life so much better.
Yeah.
You know, because I can talk to anybody from any side or whatever.
If they're a little bit reasonable, just be a little bit reasonable.
I can sit down and talk to anyone.
Because you have done everything with everybody.
You know, I mean, Cheryl Crowe has not necessarily one that jumps to the mind.
We don't talk a lot these days, come to think of it.
Yeah, okay.
That makes sense.
That makes sense.
So we're here at because you're starting something with PBR and the rodeo.
Yeah, Kid Rocks Rock and Rodeo.
So you grew up in Detroit.
There are not a lot of rodeos in Detroit.
Zero.
The Motown Rodeo.
No big happen.
I like the ring of that, though.
You know, I grew up north of Detroit.
We had six acres and a couple horses, you know, beautiful home, beautiful spread and all that.
So no, it was far from growing up as a cowboy or rodeo.
Although, you know, my parents were into that stuff.
You know, they used to go like to watch this fiddle player, Sneaky Pete, this little dirt four place.
And, you know, dad liked to ride his horse and things like that.
But no, nothing like this.
It wasn't until probably 20, I don't know if it was 20, 25 years ago when I started performing at high levels and started doing rodeos.
There's Cheyenne Rodeo and rodeos in Canada, Calgary, and of course the Houston rodeo.
And so I was like, man, it's kind of cool.
It's kind of badass.
First time you go to a rodeo.
I remember I was on CNN and I used to call myself a rodeo clown.
I'm just a rodeo clown.
Until the president of the Rodeo Clown Association wrote to me and said, do you know what rodeo clowns do?
And I'm like, okay, you're right.
You're right.
I mean, it is really badass to use your language.
And, you know, it's one of the toughest sports.
And I don't mean tough like UFC tough.
Right.
I mean, like, cowboys and that whole lifestyle, cowgirls, they're just tough people.
I mean, just the way they live, they work so hard, the way they raise their families, the way they love this country.
To me, that's tough.
It's weird because I think we were on the verge of absolutely flushing all of it away.
And there's this renaissance that is going on.
You know, I grew up in the West.
And there's something about those mountains that when you get to the mountains, you know, which one am I?
Am I going to be the one in the wagon train that actually crossed those or am I going to be like, I'm out?
There's something about the West that is American unlike any other place.
Yeah, I think we've seen it in so many picture books and so many different things.
You know, it's kind of embedded in our culture.
And America owns that, you know, cowboy culture.
Yeah.
You think, you know, it's the greatest movies.
It's the greatest tales.
You know, whether it's campfire sing-alongs or, you know, cowboys and Indians, whatever it is, it's just, I just, arguably tough, you know, just the coolest American thing ever.
I was here.
Rock and roll, give it a good run.
But, you know.
It comes back down to this, though, that the independent spirit of rock and roll comes from the cowboy.
And I think you just summed it up there, the independent spirit of a cowboy.
Yeah.
That's really, I mean, that is independence and freedom, like the open range, everything with it, a gun on your side.
Like, hey, you know, you get out of line and you're really wrong.
You just get shot.
The Independent Spirit of Rock00:15:37
We're not going to have a big meeting about it with a bunch of guys with white hair on and like this thing's like, no, you're just being an idiot and you're an asshole and the boom.
Did you watch Yellowstone?
I did.
That is what I think everybody.
Oh, that had a ton to do with it.
Oh, everybody was looking at Yellowstone that, you know, that critics from, you know, back east, whatever, that just didn't understand it.
And what it was was, we're living in a time where the bad guys don't pay.
It doesn't seem like anybody who's connected, you know, pays for anything and there's no common sense.
And that's what it was.
I think the Yellowstone secret was boom.
Sorry.
And we got to thank that guy, Taylor Sheridan, like, because now it's like pretty much half the country.
You know, I guess we're all as divided as things are.
It's like half the country, the girls, like, I was just dressing up as sexy cowgirls.
No, I got no problem.
There is no, you know.
I got to tell you, women.
It's better than like the blue hair and the big nose ring and like the black goth dress where you're like, whoa.
Hey, don't say I don't look good.
I used to be a man.
I look really great.
There's nothing sexier than a woman on the horse with the flag going around and riding around.
I've said that a million times.
It is the most beautiful.
It is.
It's just beautiful.
It is.
It's beautiful.
It really is.
So Generation X was really responsible in many ways for Trump's win.
You had a big part of that.
What is it about Generation X?
Which one is that again?
The younger one?
No, that's the after 60, born 65.
Oh, okay.
The older one.
Yeah.
I don't know.
Not the old, old one.
Not the old, old one.
Your Generation X.
So my generation.
Your generation.
Yeah.
Got to use layman's terms.
Start confusing me with the big words and stuff like that.
So X?
Is there something different about that generation?
Our generation?
I think we just, I mean, the way I grew up was like, you went to dumb stuff.
You got your buddies and your bikes at the gravel pit, and you're like, which one's going to go first?
Go down this huge hill with no helmet on.
And like, yeah, somebody broke their arm or got hurt, this, that, and the other.
And it's such a conundrum, especially, you know, having raised a son and having a couple grandkids now.
It's like, I get it, wearing a helmet, but you're like, man, you got to get some bumps and bruises at the same time.
But God forbid something happened to your child or their friend that was horrible.
You're like, you're caught in this, I call it kind of, I don't know how else to say, but the pussification of America.
Exactly right.
That's exactly how I describe it.
Yeah.
Well, that's what it seemed like it was.
I mean, I'm sitting there watching Trump's speech last night.
And somehow it came into my head, like, what if George Washington was sitting here listening to this?
Or like one of our forefathers.
And I'm like, can you believe these mofos?
I mean, he's like, and there are only two genders, male and female.
And George Washington's like, the hell has been going on here?
Are you kidding me?
What are you guys talking about right now?
Talking about advancing America and making a great society and living free.
And he's like, hey, there's only men and women.
And half the crowd's like, you're like, this shit is going on, man.
This is bananas.
I know, I know.
And you don't have to go to George Washington.
You could go to George W. Bush back in the day and say that.
He was probably sitting at home laughing along.
Like, are you kidding me?
We actually have to say this like in a, you know, a big speech.
What the hell is, what is wrong?
You saw them last night.
What are they thinking?
And they always just look weird to me, like these far left people.
They just look like people you don't like.
I mean, I hate to say this, but you can tell.
I can usually tell by the glasses they're wearing.
Yeah, red frames.
You're like, far left idiot.
Like, you know, they just stereotype people.
It's so freaking fun.
So honest, too, half the time.
But yeah, you can literally, I was talking with a buddy last night.
You can kind of see people.
They just look miserable.
Miserable.
Like, everyone's not pretty.
I get that.
I look like freaking Brad Armpit.
I get it.
But you know what I mean?
It's something about, and I'm not talking their physical looks, just something how they look.
They look miserable.
And it's not just now because they lost and they got to take a whooping from miserable and like get one of these.
It's just they've always just looked kind of, I mean, I think they are miserable.
Women protesting outside of abortion centers, like no one's sleeping with you.
What are you doing?
Like, you know, who are you protesting for?
Like, have you looked in the mirror?
And it's not your physical looks.
It's just everything about your aura.
Like, yeah, you're just miserable.
You're just a man hater.
It's the opposite of the girl with the flag on the horse.
Complete opposite.
I was talking about it today.
Imagine not being able to clap for the little boy who had brain surgery and brain cancer.
Not being able to clap, actually saying, as Elizabeth Warren did, yeah, five more years of war.
I look miserable.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
But you're like, sir, ma'am, ma'am, sir.
She, the, I actually have pity for them because I can't imagine living your life like that.
What?
Trump derangement syndrome is crazy.
It's freaking real.
You just saw it last night.
This poor, just beautiful little boy with, I didn't even know he had brain cancer when they first started.
We're making him a FBI agent or a Secret Service guy or whatever, and this, that, and you're like, oh, man.
And they say his brain cancer.
Like, oh, you know, God bless him.
You know, and these people are sitting there like, nah.
I know.
What's the matter with you?
I know.
Find no hope in that.
You were just, weren't you just golfing with Trump and Elon Musk?
Yeah, Sunday.
Oh, Elon doesn't golf.
He doesn't golf.
No, he came out and hung with us like the last three, four holes or something.
Just we're having a blast.
One thing is the age of the president is 78.
And I don't think I could keep up with him.
I can hardly keep up with him.
I'm the energizer go buddy.
Yeah.
I mean, what is that?
Is that just genes?
What is that?
I don't know because God bless him.
Like it's not from like eating the healthiest foods.
No.
No.
God bless me.
It's just, I mean, you couldn't pick an American out like bacon, eggs, sausage, diet coke, and like, you know, a few holes in him.
He's like, you want a Hershey's bar?
Like, yeah.
You want a Fanta?
Did you?
Yeah, that's cheeseburger fries.
I'm like, this is.
Yeah, everything that RFK is going to say is bad.
He does.
Did you know him before during the first term?
I met him.
I endorsed him in Rolling Stone as soon as he came down that elevator.
I'm like, boom, I want a business guy.
This dude, I don't care who somebody slept with or what they did.
You know, these little things that just blow up your personal life.
I'm like, I don't care if they're not like, you know, doing weird stuff with kids or like killing people.
I'm like, whatever.
Live your personal life.
The America of business has sucked for decades and decades.
I'm like, let somebody knows how to run a business get in there.
So I endorsed him there.
Didn't know him, but I was pretty vocal about it.
Of course, took a ton of crap, which I like.
I could care less.
It's like the last guy that's going to get upset.
I'm the sticks and stones epitome.
And then Sarah Palin, I knew her a little bit.
And the first couple months of him being in office, she got invited to dinner and president told her to bring some interesting people.
So she called me and Ted Nugent.
Two very interesting people.
I remember, you know, having an awesome time at the White House.
And it's just, you know, when you meet somebody and they're just, you could tell they're kind of cut from the same cloth.
Yeah.
Like, he's definitely got a rebellious spirit.
So what is it?
What is it?
Because he, I mean, you cannot relate to his kind of wealth, Elon, the same way.
You just cannot relate to that kind of wealth.
And yet he's not, he's not, he's not what you think he is.
He's just a regular guy.
I told a buddy yesterday, I'm like, you know, I've got to spend a few times with Elon now.
We text a little bit.
Like, I'd say we're friends at this point.
And I was like, I'm not even thinking about how much money this.
To me, it looks like he doesn't have two nickels to rub together.
Like, you know, he's just that dude.
We're clowning about this new app he has and we're making jokes at the UFC.
And it's kind of the same with Trump.
You know, of course, all the stuff you're around, you're like, wow.
And I love that stuff because this whole Hollywood thing is always like, it's this cool Hollywood thing, not to put a picture of yourself in the house, you know, not to have your awards up.
And I'm like, I got my stuff everywhere.
I'm absolutely proud of what I've done.
Right.
You know what I mean?
I walk into his stuff.
I'm like, oh, awesome.
He's got him everywhere.
Have you seen over, I think it's in the bar of Mar-a-Lago, he's got the picture on the main floor.
He's got the picture of him with the tennis racket.
He looks like 25 years old.
So good.
Like, I don't think you ever really played tennis, but I love the idea.
So good.
It's just fun.
You know, I don't think people get sometimes like same with me.
Sometimes I'm doing stuff.
I'm like, and people are laughing at me.
They don't realize I'm laughing harder at myself than you're laughing.
Like, I'm just having a blast and having fun.
And there's a fine, you know, there's a fine line there with some of it, but we're just kind of cut from the same cloth on a lot of things.
And Tucker Carlson said it.
He introduced me at this show our first year of this festival I do called Rock the Country.
And he said one of the most poignant things I've ever heard.
He was describing like, what does a real American look like?
And he's describing me to intro me and he goes, he would be both disobedient, but decent.
I was like, boom, I love that.
I was watching the speech last night.
And Trump may have may have used the word revolution, but it struck me as I'm watching, I thought, this is a revolution without any bloodshed.
This is, and I don't think people really understand that yet.
Everything is changing.
Everything is changing.
Cultural revolution, number one.
Yeah.
And that really spills over into politics.
So do you think that that cultural revolution is lasting or real?
I keep, you know, we're only, what, six, seven weeks into it.
Yeah.
And so you're kind of like, okay, is this really going to last?
Because we were so crazy.
Literally, I think we lost our mind as a country.
Absolutely.
There's no question.
But they're still crazy.
You know, it's just, it's just that pendulum swings.
And like, does it have to keep swinging so far to each side?
Yeah.
You know, I'd like it just to be like a little right over here.
Yeah.
It doesn't have to be way up here, right?
Just a little right over here.
That'd be my personal preference.
But I just hope it doesn't go back and forth and we get in this, you know, boom where it's like, hey, is this.
We can't survive as a country if we keep doing that.
We got to just remember we're all on the same team.
We want the same things.
We disagree on how to get there.
And most reasonable people can have discussions and agree to disagree.
I mean, it's the little thing in the book.
Find common ground, you know, here and there.
And just, you know, okay, you're pro-union.
Somebody had a bad experience with them here and their boss was taking too much money and it got corrupt.
And, you know, you can have different points and many things and still be rational and reasonable.
It's just unreasonable people put their heads in guillotines at this point.
Okay.
There's that.
Don't just tell me Pam's not building any guillotines, Pam Bondi.
She might be.
Yeah, she might be.
So you were, weren't you just with Pam on Ticketmaster?
Weren't you?
You've been trying to.
I had dinner with her at Marlago before she got sworn in.
And it's not really, I mean, I've said this, like, Ticketmaster, like, they've been bad actors for years.
If the DOJ takes them out and makes them sell their company, I will not shed a tear.
It does not solve the problem of trying to get concert tickets into people's hands at the prices artists want to set because of the bots, the scalpers, the bad actors.
And actually, the president just appointed Alina Haba to spearhead my ticketing thing, which is basically, there's several things to it.
I won't bore you with them all, but the main thing is, and I'm a deregulation guy.
I'm a capitalist through or through.
There's no other way to do this.
Have to do it like France did and a few other people.
We need to cap the resale of tickets at like between 10 and 20%.
Otherwise, American people are just getting screwed.
And you're just handing money to the bad actors, to the bots, the scalpers, this that and the other.
And the American people, and I told the president, I go, look, this doesn't seem like a top-line thing.
I get it, but just hear me out.
I go, what do people really want after?
And this could be number one, too.
What do people really want after to be safe and to have a good economy, to be making money, be able to take care of their families?
They want to have fun.
They want to have fun.
Let's make America fun again.
You know what I mean?
If we can get this done, you're going to be a hero because people are going to not have to decide whether to come to one of my shows or a family vacation.
Like, what is it?
What is the difference that you see your tickets scalped for?
What do your tickets go for?
And then what do you see them?
Well, you can't put them for what you want anymore.
What does that mean?
Like, if I think like, you know, like, hey, I'm going to play for a $100 ticket for these really good seats, and it's going to be 50 bucks, you know, for the other ones, you know, the higher seats, this, that, and the other.
The bots and the scalper is going to eat those all up.
And those front ones are going to be anywhere from $500 to $2,500 to whatever they can get.
They just put them out there.
Those high ones, you're just, so now you have to do this, what do they call it, price, dynamic pricing.
Yeah.
Where, so you're trying to cut the scalpers down because, hey, let's face it, like I said, I'm a capitalist.
I'm not going to be a good guy and sell my tickets for, you know, whatever, 20 bucks, and go make the scalpers millions of dollars.
Well, if there's no other way to do it, I'm making the money and I'm going to take care of the people I want to take care of.
Right.
You know, I've had a million ideas.
Can we sell them like airline tickets?
You don't get to resell your airline ticket.
You turn it in.
You know, if you can't go maybe, you know, 48 hours before you can turn it back into the system.
There's all these different plans.
We've been trying to solve this for decades.
And literally the quickest way right now is to put a cap on the resale.
And it's really bad in sports, but I'm not going to take on those guys yet.
So what is the is it because or is it just because of the scalpers?
Or does this have anything to do with, I mean, I remember when Michael Jackson went on tour and he was charging $19 a ticket.
Remember for the victory tour?
And everybody was like, $90.
I didn't make that tour, Gland.
But it was a big deal because his tickets were $19.
And that was outrageous.
I think the highest ticket up to that point was maybe $10.
They just wanted to sell the albums.
I'm overpaid.
We're the first one to say it.
Terms like, what'd you say?
I'm like, I'm telling you, I'm overpaid.
Market value.
The Car That Was Sold00:17:00
It's ridiculous.
I've never had to ride around my windows tinted here and there because I've made an unhonest dollar of a working man's back.
And I'm very proud of that.
But at the same time, I'm like, the way the system's set up now, this is why managers who now have really become record companies, which by the way, Lave Nation owns some of the management companies.
They own the buildings.
They sell the tickets.
Oh, yeah.
This, that, and the other is, it's gotten so out of hand.
There's just, you know, the managers don't want to solve it because they're making more money than ever.
It comes all about this thing.
I'm like, there's enough money in here for everybody.
There's so much money in this business.
If I book this building, the promoter, the building owners, there's plenty of money for them to make.
The promoter of the show, there's plenty of them to make.
There's plenty of money for us to make as a band.
It's all right there.
And it's just got, ask anybody who's bought a contract ticket in the last, whatever, decade and maybe two decades, and they'll tell you it's a freaking fiasco.
It's garbage.
You get in there.
Now, there is a supply and demand thing that people got to understand.
If I'm going on tour and there's 300,000 tickets and 700,000 people want to go, certain people can't go.
But that shouldn't stop people.
That shouldn't mean you have to protect.
But that's dynamic pricing.
That's fine, right?
Well, that's no, the dynamic pricing is.
You do dynamic pricing to certain levels.
Like if the front row is not worth this, I'd like to sell my front row.
But if you do dynamic pricing and you don't have the bots and the scalpers, then that's right.
Right?
Yeah, if you can only, yeah, then it will work.
If you can only sell it 10% over what you paid for it of the all-in pricing, that's the other thing.
It's on the bill or whatever executive order is going to pass.
It's like, you know, you can't get to the, you can't buy a $100 ticket and then you go to check out.
You're like, it's $165?
Yeah.
What happened?
Right.
You know, it should all be very transparent.
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What is the what's the business like now compared to when you first got in?
Oh, just as dirty and as evil.
It's the most.
Why do you say it that way?
Oh, it's just full of scoundrels and scumbags, rip-off con artists.
I mean, what business, let's take a record company.
What business?
Basically, they give you a loan.
Now, of course, they do promotion and artist development and things like that.
When you break it down to brass techs, kind of giving you a loan.
And then after that, they basically take 80% of everything you make.
Like, what business can survive doing that?
Now, there's a lot of money and there's an argument.
You know, I like to argue both sides that, you know, the artists go out and make the money touring where the money's at the gate.
That's where the big money is.
And, you know, the record companies usually don't share in that.
They tried two years ago with these 360 deals.
They didn't work.
But, I mean, they've been, they were charging artists for years.
Like when records were out, certain percentages of those records would get broke in transit.
Makes sense.
So they had a 10% free goods clause, which means they charge an extra 10% because 10% of those records usually get broke.
They kept that through digital at the contracts.
I mean, just start there.
Look at the black artists when they started.
You know the tales there.
Look at the payoffs.
You know, if you've ever read any of the books of the payola for radio, the way these award shows work, the Grammys and the Outsiders, they're such horse shit.
But you use the word evil.
And when you said that, I think of P. Diddy.
Is that real?
I have no idea.
Never got fired.
Do you think it's real?
I think there was some, if I had to take an educated guess, there's some freaky stuff going on.
Is freaky stuff illegal?
No.
Involved children?
Screw you.
You know, if there's certain, you know, I don't know.
That's not the Epstein thing.
I don't know if it's...
Yeah, when do we get to see that list?
Aspam.
I know.
Spam.
But, you know, you look at Epstein, you look at Diddy, and then you go to Pizzagate and you're like, okay, they didn't have children in the basement of that pizza place.
But there's something collectively, I think, in our universal mind that we're like, something's wrong.
There's the marketing and selling of children for sex.
That is freaking disgusting.
Those people should be lined up and shot, period.
There should be no nothing for there.
We should go to medieval times on that, in my opinion.
Pedophiles, no, there's just nothing there.
I couldn't do enough evil things to the pedophiles.
Let's put it that way.
But you know, the other stuff, you know, you see a lot of people in business, this and the other, you know, especially when you're younger starting out, everything's crazy.
You know, I got money and this, that, and the other.
And things are wild, you know.
But I said from day one, I was like, you guys realize you get more girls if you treat them really nice.
It's just kind of a...
Right.
Like.
Right.
Yeah.
I don't have to, you know, MIT to figure that out.
Yeah.
The lifestyle, did you ever, I mean, I know you did cocaine, but that's not what others have done.
Did you live that rock and roll lifestyle?
And if so, how did you get out?
How did you not?
I did, but I was very balanced.
I was a single father.
I had custody of my son since he was very, very young.
I mean, he was dropped off on my doorstep at six months and was raising.
And then, of course, when I got some money, came back looking for, you know, so I pretty much had him the whole time, but had great help with his godmother, my sister, my mother.
I mean, just great people.
So that really balanced me out.
You know, I'd pick my windows and I'd be Mr. Rockstar.
But then I had to drive to field trips and, you know, and be dad a lot of time.
That really helped me out the most.
So it's weird.
I didn't know that you were Bob Ritchie.
No idea.
I was thinking of you, Kid Rock.
Never thought Kid Rock was your name.
I would like most people to see me.
Yeah.
I'm trying to sell this American bat.
I think, don't screw it up for me.
So can we go down that road for a minute, though?
We had to go to court the one time and like these people are going to have to get up there and testify.
Like, you know, he's a great guy.
I'm like, oh.
No.
I'm actually making some money with this thing, man.
So is it A, hard to be one?
I mean, there are times when you're like, I know, are you always Bob Ritchie?
I'm Jekyll and Hyde.
A little bit of both, you know?
And I rather enjoy being it.
Sometimes I do the, you know, when I'm screwing with people and just trying to get their panties in a bunch, I'm going to post something online.
Like, yeah, it's Kid Rock.
Sometimes I'll point something real poignant.
That'll be from Bob Ritchie.
Yeah.
Sometimes I'll post from both of them.
And I've kind of enjoyed that.
Yeah, the video between Kid Rock and Bob Ritchie after president was elected.
Exactly.
That's really two different people.
Completely.
So was the kid, was that Kid Rock?
Was that?
That was Kid Rock.
Like the media had been messing with me for how many years?
You know, he's just washed up this, that, and the other.
Meanwhile, I'm selling out every show, you know, operated at the highest levels in this business.
But, you know, they're trying to create this thing because I love Trump, you know, and any little thing I do.
It's like yesterday we got contacted by TMZ.
Apparently I was at this little redneck bar Sunday night after playing with the president.
I was just stopping by.
We had dinner and then we had some drinks after.
So let's stop this little redneck bar.
You know, just me and my brother.
Let's just pop in.
There's going to be nobody in there.
Pop in there, having some fun with the few locals that are in the center.
Apparently I told a girl she was kind of fat.
Apparently.
She was.
But somebody, then TMZ contacts and they're like, you know, like, we're going to, somebody got a video.
You know, these people that can't do nothing but video everything you do.
And they're like, Kid Rock called a girl fat.
And I'm like, and I asked my brother, he goes, how you can handle it?
I go, I only have one question for you.
Was she fat?
He's like, yeah.
I'm like, I was just being honest.
I was like, my brother goes, you were actually trying to help her.
He's like, because I'm on this huge health kick.
And somehow it came up and I was saying something.
She was like, this, that, and the other.
And I was like, you are kind of fat.
Kind of saying it like that.
Like, you could, you know, use my program a little bit.
You know, I was trying to, you know, saying this to all my friends.
I'm actually getting ready to shoot a video on my health program because a lot of my fans, I think, a lot of people in my circle got on board.
It really cleaned up a lot of eating habits and started doing things.
And I was like, man, you know, they always say you have influence over people.
Yeah.
Never really realized it like that to people that were close.
So I was actually trying to help her.
I was like, I don't give a shit about that.
Like the TMZ is like, so Elon showed me this new AI thing.
I posted this thing.
I was like, did you see that?
Yeah.
That's just fun.
I'm like, I'm just trolling people, having fun.
How much of Elon is a troll?
Like, I see Grok and then, you know, what is it, insane or something?
Unhinged.
Unhinged Grok.
He's genius.
And the balls to do that at that level.
Like, no corporate entity.
No, it's like he's 12.
He's the smartest, richest man.
And then there are times he's like, I'm just going to screw it.
I can relate.
It's so great.
Nobody does that.
Nobody does that.
I think it's, it's, you know, that's, I get the trolling thing.
I get it.
But I think it's, it's, it's, I would call it more non-conforming.
Yeah.
It's like we're not going to conform to this political correctness.
Nobody can take a joke anymore or somebody hurt my feelings.
You know, this, that, and the other.
It's gone on for, I mean, it's ruined movies.
I know.
It's ruined comedy shows.
I'm a huge comedy fan.
I'm like, we're not going to hear step brothers again or like the hangover.
I mean, how funny is the guy pulls up?
He's like, Paging Dr. Faggot.
You're like, it's hilarious.
Like, none of my gay friends got offended.
None of them cared.
You know what I mean?
It's just funny.
Yeah.
That's, I think, why I like the Tesla, what is the truck?
Cybertruck.
Yeah, I got one.
Do you?
I love it.
I love it.
Everybody says it's ugly.
And I'm like, that's, I think, part of the point.
You know, it's completely different.
Wrapped mine than General Lee looks awesome.
Oh, that's great.
That's great.
It's just he's not conforming ever.
No.
He's just not doing it.
So he's also pushing the boundaries, but in an unbelievable way, he's changing so many things for the better for so many people.
I mean, just making lives better.
You know, at the end of the day, that's what it is.
You mean to tell me you can't have some fun while you're doing that?
Yeah.
I mean, that's amazing when people get too serious and take themselves too serious.
It's just, it looks miserable.
How concerned are you?
Do you are you up on the AI artificial general intelligence or singularity?
I don't use Google search anymore.
Yeah.
You lose AI.
Yeah.
Grok?
I am now.
Yeah.
I mean, I didn't see that unhinged thing till Sunday.
I was like, he literally just took all, I was using Chat GPT.
He literally just took all their users and they're like, what?
I know.
So I can actually get the info I want, but I can also have some like complete bonkers fun with this.
Yeah.
I'm like, right there, he wins.
I'm like, and I invested in Tesla a while back, and I'm not the electric car guy.
I was, I'm muscle car, this, that, and the other, my car collection.
I'm like, I get one, and I like got that thing, and I was like, oh my God, my mind's blown.
I told him, I go, I don't think you know, you created the greatest farm truck ever.
I doubt you guys, you and your engineers were thinking of this.
I'm like, but as someone who has a farm and likes to hunt and likes the outdoors, I'm like, I don't drive my Can-Am anymore, my Polaris.
I'm like, I got a long gun locked in the front.
I got my pistol here.
If I see a skunk or a coyote that we trapped or something, I go, I drive by wild turkeys or, you know, deer.
That'd be a 10-point buck sitting there.
That thing won't even move.
It doesn't know what that car is.
It makes no noise.
It's just sitting there.
I'm like, this is, and it goes anywhere.
It goes right up and down my mountains, no problem.
I'm like, he goes, yeah, we didn't design it for that.
What a surprise.
Never know how someone's going to do it.
I know, I know.
New technology.
I know.
You have a car collection.
What do you have?
I've sold a few.
God, I just sold one.
I had a 1930 V16 Cadillac.
Oh, one of the first, one of the last few left, but it just sat there for years.
So I sold that.
That's what I love about it.
It's got a lot of Dodges.
That's what I love about Leno is they have to be driven.
Drive it.
Drive it.
Drive it, drive it.
I don't drive.
I like to drink beer.
So I'm always being driven.
Okay.
Well, that's probably.
Drive to the dentist.
Yeah, that's probably a good thing.
My granddaughters like dance recitals.
I read that you used to say you are socially liberal and fiscally conservative.
Yep.
Would you still describe yourself as that?
Well, until that transgender stuff came up.
Right.
I was like, these people are just nuts.
So you didn't.
I was like, if I got gay people in my band, you know, everybody's got gay family members, something like this.
I don't know what to make of it still, but I don't care.
Yeah.
I really don't care what anybody does.
You know, shove it down our throats.
I don't want teaching my grandchildren this, like, teach them how to write and do arithmetic and stuff, you know, be socially, you know, conscious and, you know, to a certain degree and, you know, want a better world and treat people right.
And then it's just, and then it got too far.
I'm like, come on, man.
I was just, you know, so I'm still socially liberal, I would say.
I'm like live and let live to a certain extent, but then it just got too nuts.
Yeah.
I mean, you tell me that's not a freaking mental illness.
I'm like, you know, all these different things that happen with these shooters and this, that, and the other.
There's too many nutty people out there to begin with.
Like, you know, Ted Nugent said, and I agree with him.
He said that at that dinner, actually, at the White House, he's like, you know, we're talking politics a little bit.
And I'm like, I just shut up and eat.
Like, I don't, I don't, I'm not really, you know, self-educated in this where I need to be spouting out stuff right now.
You know, what should I do about North Korea?
I'm like, but Ted said, he goes, we start talking about it.
He goes, sir, I need to bring the nut houses back.
He goes, remember they got rid of all the nut houses and those people got nowhere to go now and now they're just running around the streets.
Or in Congress.
Or Congress.
True.
It is.
We saw him sitting on that side.
It's amazing to me how batcrap crazy everybody is.
And then they have switched places with us.
I used to be.
It was not cool to be conservative.
No.
No.
It is now.
It's starting to be.
It's starting to be.
Trump made the party what he was button up and, you know, this, that, and the other.
You know, as someone who made a career out of, you know, using four-letter words, you know, pushing the envelope and being a little wild, this, that, and the other, but still had those values from, you know, instilled in me growing up.
Yeah, it's completely changed immensely, as you know.
He still is buttoned up to some degree.
When he has to be, he's buttoned up.
Yeah.
When he's just a regular guy, he's not buttoned up.
And that's what I want out of a president to some degree.
I want, you know, he is so unpredictable if you don't know him.
If you don't, if you don't get it, he is so damn unpredictable that he's just.
Which the best negotiators are.
Right.
He's just running circles around everybody and everybody's like, this is crazy.
Yeah, you know why?
Because you're playing the game the old way.
It's over.
It's over.
I've sold more things off that game for years.
Like the press just can't, because now it's a point where they have to get clicks and views, you know, to make money and all this stuff.
Unpredictable Negotiators Running Circles00:14:32
So I just use them for it.
I got something to promote.
You know, it used to be, okay, we got to go to Europe for this amount of time.
We have to spend a week in New York City.
We have to go to LA, blah, blah, blah.
Now I just, you know, like, you know, call Oprah a bad name and say, I got a new record coming out.
Everybody knows about it.
I'm like, that was easy.
Because their pants, you know, if they would, if they would just use the old thing, just he'll tire himself out.
Just ignore them.
Yeah.
They can't.
No, they can't.
They can't.
You have no problem letting everybody.
Politicians especially, they don't want anybody.
I am a small town guy.
I grew up in a middle class.
If I heard Kabala Harris say middle class family one more time, I was going to hang myself.
You're a kind of guy, and I don't think it's different, but I think politicians would.
You're like, I don't care.
Yeah, I made a lot of money.
Big deal.
American dream.
Right.
American dream.
But you still have the values.
I don't think they understand that it's not the amount of money that you have or anything else.
Maybe that changes them, but it doesn't have to change you.
You can still be the guy who, like Donald Trump loves people.
He just loves them.
Incredible.
He's got.
And wants to be loved.
Right.
What a concept.
And everything is shattering everything that is this bogus plastic, has been bogus plastic world.
Do we, do we, what does the world look like at the end of four years?
Hopefully it looks like President JD Vance.
Hopefully to me, that's what it looks like.
Do you travel?
I hope we can bring, I really hope we can, I'm actually going to try to unite this country.
And I'm starting at the end of the month taking Bill Maher to the White House for dinner.
This guy has done nothing but talk smack about the president for since day one.
But he's a comedian, too.
And, you know, I can have conversations with him.
You know, if you don't get into Trump, because I'm like, I freaking love him.
He's like, I don't.
I'm like, let's talk about other things.
We can find common ground.
He's actually, you know, more reasonable than a lot of people on the right would think.
Oh, I think.
Especially the last maybe four years where.
So I said to him, I was doing his podcast and I said, if I can hook you guys up, this, that, and the other.
And trust me, there's a lot more people deserving at that table, you know, for dinner.
So it's a big deal to me to, you know, bring him there and even have the president be like, yeah, do it.
Let's do it.
I go, man, what would it say to this country?
Let's start at the top where you, you know, very public figures, him, television comedian, you, president of the free world.
You know, we could just break bread, have some laughs, take a picture and be like, hey, you know, we don't agree on everything, but we got along.
Does that send, does that start to send a message to people or do they just think I'm an idiot?
Yeah.
You know, does Bill Maher look soft for going?
Does a Trump look weak?
Like, I'm like, man, I think we just got to start somewhere like there and be like, look, man, we just had dinner.
We had some laughs.
We have fun.
Like, maybe call that family member that you got into it over politics or that person, you know, at the school that, you know, you don't like to talk to anymore that you used to have a coffee with in the morning.
Maybe just get back with him and be like, look, man, it's okay.
Everybody calm down a little bit.
Anybody that is not pushing that is anybody who is saying, don't talk to your family member.
That's...
You've heard the stories.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But it's just evil.
Yeah.
I had one person do it.
One person I could really, me and Cheryl just got into it over like gun control and we've had some honest conversations about it and things.
And then I was just like, no, it's not, I still love her to death.
You know, she's like a sister to me, you know, but it's like, yeah, she's not first call anymore on the dinner list, you know, the dinner invite.
Yeah.
That's too bad.
And I'm not on hers.
I don't believe it.
I would.
But I know we can still be cordial and have some laughs in a room.
Are you, do you travel to Europe very often?
No.
Did you see what happened with JD Vance over in Europe a couple weeks ago?
What, a speech?
Yeah.
I saw a speech, thought it was awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome, right?
Yeah.
Did you see the foreign minister of Germany after it was over?
No.
Openly wept and said, I learned a lot this week after listening to his speech.
We no longer have as much as we thought we had in common with the Americans.
And I thought, get him out.
Yeah, if that's actually what you believe, I don't want to be a NATO.
I don't, I don't.
Why?
I mean, you're on the other end.
As soon as the red flag went up with it, it was crying.
You're like, yeah.
Especially a German.
Yeah.
Supposed to be tough, stoic.
We don't laugh at anything.
Right.
Right.
But do we have stuff in common?
Do we have enough in common?
Because it seems to me that we're in a.
Or gets drowned out by the media a lot.
Yes, we all have a ton in common, but you know, they like to keep us polarizing that media on all sides, you know, to be fair.
Yeah.
To be fair, on all sides, a lot more on the left side.
But I mean, everything's become this social media freaking media nightmare.
It's just like, it's just, there's too much information.
Yeah.
I don't, all me and my friends do is send memes to each other.
And I love that.
That's great.
I'm like, I don't want to hear about your trip.
I don't want to see it on Facebook or, you know, tweets or whatever.
Like, and we get together and we golf, we have dinner or whatever.
We got something to talk about.
I mean, catch up on old times.
I was like, don't text me.
Happy birthday.
Merry Christmas.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Happy 4th of July.
If it's really that big of a deal, send me a card.
Otherwise, I'm not worried about it.
I was like, I just don't need 300 texts coming in.
Like, happy birthday.
I'm like, come on, man.
It's just, it's annoying.
Tell me about the concert coming up this summer.
I'm doing 19 shows.
And, you know, I've usually been like not too big on politics in the show, just trying to entertain people.
This is the exact opposite.
These are MAGA rallies.
Really?
Yeah.
1,000%.
I put together a whole new show.
I'm only doing 19.
I'm doing seven arenas, which are going to be a blast.
And then I do this Rock the Country Music Festival, which just no one had ever started a music festival for hardworking people who love this country.
Well, it used to be.
I mean, but now it's got this.
Frank Williams, Leonard Skynyrd, Nick Matt.
I mean, that's, that's, that was for hardware.
We do those very small towns, middle of fields or, you know, public places like these very, I mean, you don't need these towns on it.
I know.
Why?
And we did on our first year last year.
I have ownership in that, so I really got to help shape and mold it.
And it's literally, I mean, our lighting rig out by the soundboard is a cross.
You know, just some really cool stuff.
There's thousands of American flags we put up everywhere.
It's just, it's just to celebrate America listening to music.
And like, these people are the greatest people.
I don't just say that because they're paying money to come to my stuff.
I'm not that shallow.
But I mean, literally, I've heard this from everybody.
You can walk through this rock and roll outlaw country crowd with 30,000 people there and be excuse me.
You can walk right through to the bathroom, walk back, no static, no fights.
I think we had a couple drunk drivings.
Like, it was just, this thing's not, we have more problems at my honkie-tonk in National.
I know it's a couple thousand people.
I know.
It's, it's, uh, we have that with our audience.
We did an event in Washington.
Remember, these people are partying.
They're partying hard.
Right.
They're, they're drinking.
They got their campers.
They're carrying on.
Usually when you add alcohol to any situation, you know, somebody's going to get into it.
But it's still, there is something about the American that everybody in the media has forgotten.
That we generally, I mean, I think.
And we felt forgotten.
Yeah.
That's why he won in the first place.
Absolutely.
And I think that's why he's doing so well right now.
He's, I've never seen a president who said, I'm writing down everything.
Remind me, I still have a significant thing.
And then I said the campaign trip, and then I'm just going to start not checking them off in priority order.
Never seen that.
Have you ever seen that?
New.
Never seen that.
Talked about that with a million friends too.
Yeah.
Same thing.
It's like he's just checking that list off like, and that shows, for the first time, a politician who does not forget.
He's not using you.
He's not coming out and saying, I'm just like you, and I'm going to do these things.
And then you get in and you forget it.
You like my shiny ring.
Right.
Right.
It's, it's, I've never seen anything like it.
And this is the first guy, you know, the first administration that started like, hey, let's look where our money's being spent.
I mean, that is bananas.
I know.
You know, especially supporting politicians through the years, this, that, and the other.
I'm like, why don't you mother, why don't you people look for this?
Like, what are you doing?
Yeah.
Like, this is the, like, it's.
But I don't know if we could have done it as at least as effectively as Musk can do it because of AI.
That's true.
I mean, you know, in three years from now, the AI we have going over the budget, oh, it's going to be, we're going to know everything.
Even doing my ticketing thing, you know, I've been doing research for years, have hired attorneys at certain points, you know, people to get info, this, that, and the other.
Sometimes I always don't give it to you in their yearly reports.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
This, that, and the other.
Not now.
AI.
It's all there.
You worried about art with AI?
Not really.
Do you know that everybody else is?
There's a group that has tested 500,000 songs and ranked them.
Out of the top 10, the top five are AI songs.
Yeah, we better get better as songwriters.
Yeah.
I mean, that's crazy.
Well, the way I figured, I actually met with a young man and had some other prominent musicians and record heads to have an off-the-record conversation about AI and music.
And the app is called Suno, and it's bananas because it's pretty dang good.
For writing music?
For it produces music.
See, what Spotify is doing is a lot of their, you know, they have to pay money every time they play one of our songs.
They're creating tons.
You put on a beach playlist that has 100 songs.
20 of those songs might be by some artist you never heard of because AI created it.
They don't got to pay anybody.
Wow.
But are they using our stuff to make it?
Yeah, but the way I looked at it is I looked at like Napster when that started.
And I was like, what's going on?
And, you know, all the artists were up in arms and the record companies wanted us to get behind.
You know, they're stealing.
They're pirating music.
And I'm like, hold on.
Are they stealing from the record companies?
Like, stealing from everybody.
I'm like, heh, good.
I care less.
I make all my money live.
But now with AI, I'm like, so I'm asking this guy and I'm like, so I can give you some a cappellas in my vocals and you can model my voice and then you can put it on your system and however many people want to write songs for me with my voice can write them.
He's like, yep.
I'm like, that's kind of cool.
I could have like 100,000 people writing.
Now there's going to be some funny ones in there like, you know, Ken Rocky, Joe Biden.
I get it.
I'll laugh at those.
But let's say I got a million people writing songs for me.
If one of those person nails it and they come up with this, you know, this life-changing song, I go play it live.
Yeah.
I'm like, I don't, I'm not seeing the evil in here yet.
You know, which the record companies and managers get all the artists up in arms about, we're not going to stop it.
I know that much.
You are not going to stop it.
No.
So it's like, let's figure out how we use it as a new tool the best, like anything else in life.
Who is the influence in your life musically?
I mean, you've worked with almost everybody and you're weird.
You break all of the rules.
You rap.
Isn't that what rock and roll is supposed to be?
Yeah, it is.
But nobody does that.
Nobody does that.
So what was your musical influence?
It was everything.
I mean, the real big ones at the top was, you know, my parents' record collection while I was young.
That was just all great classic rock and, you know, not real country, more outlaw country music, whether it was, like I said, the Waylands and things like that, the Eagles and stuff like that.
Of course, Bob Seeger's, you know, religion growing up and still is in my household, so proud to call him a friend.
But then when I got into hip-hop, that changed everything for me.
You know, the early stuff, but it was really like when stuff went mainstream, like run DMC and everything from that era.
And then I didn't figure it out until I was older.
I was like, there's literally been, you know, outside if you want to go back to like Celtic music, which created, you know, this and that and the other.
But American music is like basically jazz and blues spawned everything.
Everything.
Everything.
Until hip-hop came along.
And once rap came along, it was like that has its fingerprints on every form of music now since then.
So I didn't get to witness the birth of the blues or really, you know, the 50s and 60s and stuff, but I got to witness that.
And to me, it kind of aligns, has a lot of parallels with blues and jazz, like what hip-hop's done.
Do I like a lot of the new hip-hop?
No, I don't.
I'm more old school hip-hop guy, but that's because I'm old.
I would assume.
Right.
What are the parallels?
That blues and jazz spawned everything up until hip-hop.
And now hip-hop has its fingerprints on everything.
I don't care if it's country music, you know, rock and roll music, whatever.
There's tinges of hip-hop all over it, just like any of those records up until, you know, up until the late 70s or wherever when hip-hop started, 80s started coming in.
They were all had the touches of jazz and blues on them, whether it was soul music, whether it was rock and roll, whether it was country or whatever.
So you, but you, were you into that?
What's that?
Blues and I was.
I mean, I would listen to those records.
I would listen to music all the time.
But then when hip-hop really came, I started more to emulate it.
You know, even though I had that rock and roll, we had a piano and there was an old guitar laying around.
I would noodle here and there and then started, screwed up my mom's aerobics turntable trying to scratch records.
So my parents had no clue what I was doing with any of this.
In Romeo, Michigan, there was not.
Hip-Hop's Influence on Every Genre00:01:14
Right.
Did you have the talk with your parents or anybody in your family of, this isn't really a career.
I mean, it's a good little...
My whole life.
Yeah.
I didn't go to college.
I barely made it out of high school.
I was so focused on music.
Yeah, I was, well, can't he just do this as a hobby on the weekends?
I got the same thing.
I got the same thing.
I was doing radio when I was 13 years old and I got the speeches.
13.
Yeah, I got the speeches for my family.
And, you know, this is a nice hobby, but, you know, it's probably not going to work out for you.
Like, well, sometimes the best motivation is it not?
Exactly right.
Exactly right.
It has been great to talk to you.
Great to talk to you.
Thank you for having the balls to stand up and just be who you are.
Thank you.
I get that compliment a lot.
It's one of the best ones I get.
That and how wonderful my son is.
Those two compliments mean a lot.
I love this song.
I love this.
And this concert was great.
But it's like, thanks for having the balls to stand up.
It means a lot now, especially where we've come to now.