Kid Rock Closed the ‘All-American Halftime Show’ by Telling Americans to Dust Off Their Bibles and Find Jesus — but His Past Complicates the Message

Kid Rock had a message for America on Super Bowl Sunday.

After closing out Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show” — a counter-event to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime performance — the 55-year-old musician stood under a single spotlight, introduced by his given name, Robert James Ritchie, and delivered a verse he said came to him one Sunday morning when “something or someone spoke to me.”

“There’s a book that’s sitting in your house somewhere that could use some dusting off,” he sang. “There’s a man that died for all our sins hanging from the cross. You can give your life to Jesus and he’ll give you a second chance. ‘Til you can’t.”

The verse was an addition to Cody Johnson’s 2021 hit “‘Til You Can’t,” which Kid Rock said he was moved to write after the assassination of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk in September 2025. The performance ended with photos of Kirk and his widow, Erika, followed by the Bible verse Isaiah 6:8: “Here am I, send me.”

The more than 25 million viewers watching on YouTube heard a man calling the country back to faith.

The Show

The “All-American Halftime Show” was billed as a celebration of “faith, family, and freedom.” Turning Point USA organized it in response to the NFL selecting Bad Bunny — a Puerto Rican artist who performs primarily in Spanish — as the official Super Bowl halftime headliner. The White House endorsed the event, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, “I think the president would much prefer a Kid Rock performance over Bad Bunny.”

Kid Rock himself framed the contrast in an interview before the show. “He’s said he’s having a dance party, wearing a dress, and singing in Spanish? Cool,” he said of Bad Bunny. “We plan to play great songs for folks who love America.”

The show was pre-taped in Atlanta and featured performances from Brantley Gilbert, Gabby Barrett, and Lee Brice. Kid Rock performed two songs: his 1999 hit “Bawitdaba” and the Cody Johnson cover.

The Man Delivering the Message

Robert James Ritchie, AKA Kid Rock, has had an eventful career.

In 2001, he wrote and performed the song “Cool, Daddy Cool” for the animated children’s film Osmosis Jones. The lyrics include: “Young ladies, young ladies, I like ’em underage, see. Some say that’s statutory, but I say it’s mandatory.” The song resurfaced days before the TPUSA halftime show and went viral again online. Kid Rock did not address the lyrics directly. He posted a quote on social media about “learning to love the hate,” attributed to Kobe Bryant.

In 2006, a company called Red Light District tried to sell a sex tape from 1999 showing Kid Rock and Creed singer Scott Stapp with groupies on a tour bus. Both men went to court to block its release.

He has two alcohol-related misdemeanor charges on his record — one in Michigan in 1991, another in 1997.

In 2007, he got into a fistfight with Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee at the MTV Video Music Awards and was charged with assault. Weeks later, he was arrested for battery after a fight at a Waffle House in Atlanta.

He displayed the Confederate flag at his concerts for years before stopping in 2007. When the NAACP honored him in 2011, protesters objected to his history with the flag. He responded that he “never flew the flag with hate in my heart.”

At Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, Kid Rock sliced a hole through an American flag, put his head through it, and wore it as a poncho on stage. The Veterans of Foreign Wars called it flag desecration.

His 1996 album was titled Early Mornin’ Stoned Pimp. His breakthrough hit “Bawitdaba” — the same song he opened the TPUSA show with on Sunday — includes lyrics referencing “topless dancers,” “crackheads,” “all my heroes in the methadone clinic,” and “hookers all trickin’ out in Hollywood.” He explained the song’s meaning in a 2000 Rolling Stone interview: “I’ve got a lot of faith in people. Whether it’s some kid with a trust fund that people tease because he’s got a trust fund, you know.”

The Verse

On Sunday night, that same man stood under a spotlight in denim and a Detroit trucker hat, looked into the camera, and told America to dust off their Bibles, give their lives to Jesus, and take their second chance while they still can.

The studio version of his “‘Til You Can’t” cover dropped at midnight.