Kid Rock’s latest studio album, “Halfway 2 Jesus,” is a 17-track effort he calls his “spiritual record.”
Ahead of the album’s release this Friday (Oct. 17), Rock hosted the Detroit Free Press on Monday at his Nashville compound for a listening session and freewheeling conversation on a host of topics.
Check back soon to Freep.com for a full profile on Kid Rock’s life, music and career in 2026, including his growing Nashville empire. For now, here’s a rundown of some of the big talking points.
He's doubling down on recent comments about Islam, Abdul El-Sayed and Dearborn
This past weekend, in remarks reposted by President Donald Trump, Kid Rock made waves by saying Muslim Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed may be “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Talking with the Free Press, Rock amplified that stance.
“I've studied a good portion
of the Muslim faith of Islam, the Quran, especially from all my travels to these war-torn countries and talking to people about it — mainly the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and people like this,” Rock said. “And they say (Muslims) are liberal? You read their book, they're like conservative extremists. I know there's some good ones. But there's also some very bad stuff. The extremists with the Sharia law and things, it's f------ scary.”
Rock, who famously grew up in the Detroit suburb of Romeo, also caught flak for telling Fox’s Lara Trump that he was born in Dearborn, now home to a substantial Muslim community. Rock told the Free Press it was indeed the case — that he was born Jan. 17, 1971, at Dearborn’s Oakwood Hospital.
"I was raised in Romeo, Michigan. I was born in Dearborn,” he said. “My father was born in Dearborn and raised in Dearborn. A bunch of my siblings were born in that hospital.”
His father, the late Bill Ritchie, was a prominent metro Detroit car dealer.
“My dad was a Lincoln-Mercury Ford guy. So we're very close to that part of the world,” Rock said of Dearborn.
He’s headed back to the White House with Bill Maher
In spring 2025, ostensible anti-Trumper Bill Maher was invited by Kid Rock to dine with the president at the White House, a moment famously recounted by Maher on his HBO show.
Now they’re doing it again in D.C. — and this time it was Maher who invited Rock to tag along for a Thursday night Trump dinner. That’s according to Rock, who will make his latest appearance on “Real Time with Bill Maher” Oct. 30.
Incidentally, among the items on display at Rock’s Nashville home is an autographed copy of a list brandished by his friend Maher during their original White House get-together: It lists the array of insults Trump hurled at the comic over the years.
He’s taking a Christian direction on his new album
Kid Rock said “Halfway 2 Jesus” is an album about second chances, forgiveness, showing grace and “trying to heal some of the division.” The record’s lead single, “James 1:17 (Jesus is King),” came during a late-night epiphany, he said.
Rock, who was raised Catholic, said his recent renewal of faith came amid the 2024 death of his father, the breakup of a 17-year relationship with fiancée Audrey Berry and — most notably — the memorial he attended following Charlie Kirk’s 2025 assassination.
“I was definitely brought to my knees,” he said of the service. “It was just a heavy day all around, but when (Kirk’s) wife stood up there and forgave the killer, I was like, ‘Wow.’”
The album features a raw, autobiographical track, “God is Good,” that Rock deems “probably the best song I’ve ever written, while the closing cut is an acoustic cover of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.,” where Rock said he “did my best” to record it like a Bob Seger song.
Kid Rock is tight with the pope’s brother
Rock pointed out that he is a friend of “Sweet” Lou Prevost, the eldest brother of Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV. Prevost and his wife are rock fans and connected with Kid Rock after his May 30 concert in Tampa, where they got a listen to his new Christian album in progress.
“We were hanging out, drinking some beers, and could just relate on a lot of other things — how his life's been changed by his brother being the pope,” Rock recalled. “(Florida Governor) Ron DeSantis gave him a security detail, and they're very ... working-class folks. I don't know — it's just another weird one.”
Kid Rock got a trim
Rock’s new direction comes with a new ’do: After decades without “a real haircut,” as he called it, he decided to pull the trigger this past New Year’s Day, summoning his Florida-based stylist.
“I was like, ‘Just come over and do it,’” Rock recounted, adding with a laugh: “She did. And then all I got was compliments.”
He recounted his own reaction to the shorter hair: “God, I should’ve cut this like 10 years ago. I was just walking around with a ponytail looking like a dirtbag forever.”
Eminem’s album appearance prompted a last-minute scramble
Fans learned two weeks ago that Kid Rock’s new album would feature a guest performance by fellow Detroit star Eminem on the song “7 Sins.” But while that song did make the final record, Eminem’s part has been replaced with a new rap contribution from Lil Wayne.
At Eminem’s insistence, Rock’s album now includes a previously recorded but unreleased track, “Heal My Faith,” which includes an Em verse put together last year at his Ferndale studio.
Rock the Country might be ending
Rock the Country, a traveling festival founded by Kid Rock in 2024, may not be long for this world: “I don’t know if that survives another year,” he said.
While he touted successful crowd numbers for by the fest, which has mostly played secondary, rural markets, Rock said finances and logistics have proved tricky — like “getting 6,000 or 7,000 cars in and out of a small town.”
“I know people are going to be like, ‘Oh, it didn’t work.’ I’m like, Yeah, it’s OK. I got up there and took a swing.”
Rock added: “I feel like I’ve got a pretty good batting average over the years. I’m content with everything. But with anything in life, you’re just not going to hit homeruns every time.”
He’s OK with AI in music — to a point
At his Nashville studio this week, Rock said the new album includes uses of AI, including parts of the opening track, “Freedom,” and the song “7 Sins,” where he transformed his three backing vocalists into a full-on gospel choir. Rock’s program of choice is Suno, which has faced extensive litigation from music-industry heavyweights claiming copyright infringement.
Rock said he embraces AI as a musical tool in the hip-hop spirit of drum machines and turntables — not for the wholesale creation of songs. He said the technology as it stands isn’t perfect, often requiring multiple prompts to get the result he wants.
In a follow-up text message Wednesday, Rock elaborated on his stance. He likes to use samples in his music, but securing licensing “has become a full scale business with so many hands in the pot,” he wrote. Moreover, because he’s become a political lightning rod, “would some (copyright) owners even let Kid Rock sample their music no matter what I pay?”
Artificial intelligence “lets me get what I hear in my head to my audience without having to deal with any of that,” he wrote. “And that’s HUGE for me.”
Rock added: “I also agree (AI) could be a huge problem down the line, but until then I am gonna use the nail gun over the hammer. I clearly don’t need AI — I have already proven that!”
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kid Rock talks political controversy, AI music, new haircut and more
