“You’ll never tell me sh-t, you’ll never flip my script / Because I’m more outrageous than the Vegas strip,” raps Kid Rock towards the end of “Don’t Tell Me How To Live,” the new song and video he released on Nov. 19. The video features the 50-year-old Kid (b. Robert Richie) complaining about “snowflakes” and “offended millennials” against a backdrop of increasingly ridiculous imagery. From wearing a full-length fur coat while rapping in a church to firing off a variety of handguns to riding a middle-finger-shaped rocket to Mars, Kid’s video is what one would expect from the aging “Bawitdaba” star. Yet, one line at the end caught everyone by surprise: “I’m like Reverend Run or David Lee Roth / Like [Bruce] Springsteen, bitch, I’m the motherf-ckin’ boss / James Dean shit, I’m more like Brad Pitt / A little less pretty, but I slang more d-ck.”
“Kid Rock compared himself to Brad Pitt. I wish I could write something funnier than that, but I can’t,” tweeted one person after listening to the song. “Kid Rock living the delusional life while comparing himself to Willie Nelson, David Lee Roth, Springsteen, & Brad Pitt … I may need medical help cuz I can’t breathe,” added another, and the masses generally agreed. “Kid Rock comparing himself to Brad Pitt? Yeah….no.” “LOL Kid Rock compared himself to Brad Pitt and Bruce Springsteen. Dude has zero self-awareness.” “Somebody said Kid Rock has a song out saying he’s like Brad Pitt? Is this a joke? Don’t see it.”
TFW when you hear Kid Rock compared himself to Brad Pitt pic.twitter.com/dDwlSpLWkU
— The Stuffed Honey Badger (@TANyanotTONya) November 23, 2021
Kid Rock compared himself to Brad Pitt.
I wish I could write something funnier than that, but I can't.😂😂😂— Renee Libby 🇺🇸 (@ReneeAlida) November 23, 2021
Kid Rock is not Brad Pitt. Nope. pic.twitter.com/vlJxVN2MWz
— Samantha Sanderson (@SamSanderson123) November 23, 2021
Unfortunately for that listener, “Don’t Tell Me How To Live” is not a joke. But, the song seems like it’s such a parody that “Weird” Al Yankovic had to issue a statement denying his involvement. “To everybody that’s congratulating me right now on my new Kid Rock parody video, let me clarify – that’s not me. That’s actually Kid Rock.”
To everybody that's congratulating me right now on my new Kid Rock parody video, let me clarify – that's not me. That's actually Kid Rock.
— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) November 22, 2021
For years, Kid Rock has been one of the loudest (and often, grossly homophobic) right-wing voices in music. He was an early supporter of Donald Trump’s presidential run, endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012, and has been a vocal supporter of the second amendment. Kid Rock has also fought against COVID-19 restrictions from the get-go of the pandemic. His bar in Nashville — Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk and Rock & Roll Steakhouse — had its beer permit revoked in June 2020 after it continued to serve patrons at its bar, a violation of the city’s public-health emergency order, per Rolling Stone. The bar also was hit with a second citation after a photo showed it was serving maskless customers at seemingly max capacity.
Steve Smith, co-owner of the Honky Tonk, joined other Nashville bar/restaurant owners to sue the city, claiming the officials are “unfairly targeting restaurants and bars” with mandated closures. In December 2020, A federal judge threw out the owners’ second request for a restraining order against these restrictions, per The Nashville Tennessean.
Kid Rock was forced to cancer two shows in Texas in August 2021 after more than half his band tested positive for COVID-19, per The Daily Beast. “I am pissed,” he wrote on his website. “Over half the band has f-cking covid (not me), and before u sh-t for brains bloggers and media trolls run your mouths, many of them, like me, have been vaccinated.” Earlier in the month, Kid Rock played a “packed house” at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which was later labeled a “superspreader” event by South Dakota health officials.