Kid Rock Says He Won’t Perform at Venues With COVID-19 Vaccine or Mask Mandates

Kid Rock performs prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 57th Annual Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Feb. 22, 2015. Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Kid Rock has announced that he will cancel tour dates in cities or venues that have mask or COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

In a video posted on Jan. 29, the singer, born Bob Ritchie, confirmed that several U.S. cities have already been taken off the tour list due to mask mandates and vaccine requirements.

Those who received tickets from venues with mandates will “be getting your money back because I won’t be showing up either.”

“If you think I’m going to sit out there and say don’t tell me how to live, ‘We The People,’ while people are holding up their [expletive] vaccine cards and wearing masks, that [expletive] ain’t happening,” he said in the video.

“We the People” features lyrics critical of President Joe Biden, Black Lives Matter, and White House COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci. Released on Monday, the single was at the top of various unofficial rankings of purchased iTunes singles, according to news reports.

Kid Rock added in the video that he believes that when his tour kicks off, a number of cities will have already rescinded their mandates.

“Trust me, we’ve done all our research on this and the consensus says that all this is going to be done, if there are any at these venues, I’m not aware of any, but if there are any, they’re going to be gone by the time we get to your city,” the “Bawitaba” singer added. “If they’re not, trust me, you don’t have to worry. You’ll be getting your money back because I won’t be showing up either.”

The cities he will skip include Buffalo, New York, Toronto, Canada, as well as “several other cities,” Kid Rock said.

It came just days after singer-songwriter Neil Young recently requested Spotify remove his music because of his opposition to Joe Rogan’s podcast, accusing both Spotify and Rogan of promoting alleged misinformation about COVID-19. Days after that, singer Joni Mitchell, 78, announced she would be pulling her tracks from the service.

Young, in a letter posted online, gave Spotify an ultimatum to either remove his tracks or remove Rogan’s podcast, which is listened to by millions of people per episode.

“They can have Neil Young or Rogan. Not Both,” Young, 76, said in his missive posted last week. “I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” he added.

Rogan hasn’t publicly issued a comment about the matter.

A spokesperson for Spotify told The Wall Street Journal in late January: “We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators.”