Kid Rock on Becoming a Grandfather, Buying a Plane, Why He Loves Bob Seger

At 45, Kid Rock remains as unrepentant and outspoken as ever. “His campaign has been entertaining as shit,” the rapper/singer/songwriter recently told Rolling Stone of Donald Trump. In further excerpts from the interview, he discusses his Detroit heritage, the rules he lives by and his friendship with late record mogul Ahmet Ertegun.

You recently became a grandfather, at the age of 43. How did you feel about that milestone?
Well, it keeps my redneck street cred in good standing, right? Maybe even my hip-hop street cred, if I have any of that left. I’m enjoying it. Listen, my son graduated college and he has a job. That alone, as a parent, is such a relief. I can’t imagine what the fuck I put my parents through. Now I have a beautiful granddaughter, on top of it? It’s pretty crazy. My friends say, “How lucky are you, to be able to see your granddaughter do so much stuff? You’ll be at her wedding.” So many things you might not see if you have kids later in life, which seems to be the trend now for most responsible adults.

What’s the most Detroit thing about you?
Maybe my work ethic. Knowing how to get back up when being kicked down.
 I went through a lot of that in my history. Everything that I went through to get
 the success I have, I think a lot
 of that has to do with Detroit.


You also have places in Ala
bama, Malibu, Nashville and 
Florida. What’s that about?
People write about my 
house in Malibu: “No one would 
ever expect him to have this.” But 
I also have double-wide trailers in Nashville and Alabama, and a beach house in Florida with pink shag carpeting. I like going in and out of different cultures, just like in my music. I go 
to Alabama to hunt and hang out. 
It’s such a simple way of life. You’re 
just in the middle of nowhere. I see 
these celebrities bitching about 
”Oh, these people won’t leave 
me alone!” There ain’t a fucking soul in Alabama that’s going 
to fuck with you.


What was your most decadent purchase?
I bought a pretty expensive 
1930 Cadillac. It’s concord-
yellow, a fuckin’ high-dollar car. 
But at the same time, it’s probably going to end up being better than putting that money in the bank. And I guess an airplane is pretty decadent, right? [Laughs] But if anyone has a problem with that, tell them to go fuck themselves, because I will live in that trailer in Alabama before I give up that fuckin’ airplane. That airplane is, hands down, the greatest luxury a human being could have. There’s nothing that fucking beats it. Fuck a yacht.

Who are your heroes?
Jesus. George Washington. And anybody that’s had the balls to go and fight for this country. And hardworking people that come from not having a lot, that keep a strong family and pull themselves up from their bootstraps and make something of themselves in life, you know? Those are heroes to me.