Will Cain Country - Kid Rock on President Trump, Ticketmaster, and 'Rock N Rodeo'

Episode Date: October 3, 2025

On this special edition of 'The Will Cain Show,' Will sits down for an unfiltered, wide-ranging conversation with music icon and cultural lightning rod Kid Rock. They cover everything from Kid Rock���s lifelong friendship and late-night calls to President Donald Trump to why he believes the media is “public enemy number one” and how conservatism has become the new rebellion. Will and Kid Rock also dive into Kid Rock’s mission to overhaul the ticketing industry, why authenticity still matters in a world addicted to fake, and much more. This interview first aired on May 16th, 2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kid. Awesome to have you. Thank you, Will. Love your show. A little bit of a cigar. First thing in the morning we were just talking about nicotine's the hardest habit to quit. 100%. But it's the most in joy. I'd be pretending if I hadn't started my day with a little bit of coffee and nicotine. I started with a lot of coffee, nicotine. About 4 a.m. getting after it. You just said this to me. You said, I haven't done this a long time, all this media and these interviews on the day of a show. You're playing tonight, and I was thinking about that.

This is a long day for you. You remind me in that way, and I'm not giving you this, like, gratuitous compliment of the president. You said it last night on Jesse Waters. You don't need a lot of sleep? No, and I did this kind of sleep study a few years ago with Cleveland Clinic. And the result was basically, there's like 2% of people who sleep four or five hours a night and are just fine because, you know, it concerns me with, like, heart disease and things like that, stuff that runs in my family. And I've really been on his health kick the last three years. Still out by fun, but, you know, I balance it out.

And, yeah, it's, man, I feel great. It's the same thing with him. Like, you know, I'll talk to him at two in the morning and then, you know, sometimes after I have a few beers, I'm like, hey, what's up? And they don't call me at six, like five in. Like, how do you like it? And I'm like, I'm up. I'm ready to go. What percentage of time when you dial his number does he pick up?

50%. No matter the hour? No. I know the best hours to get him at, you know, which is really early. And then, you know, kind of dinner time, late weekends when he's golfing or something. You know, I try not to bother him too much unless I have something really pointed, like my ticket-y-thing thing. I'm trying to get done or whatever, but I don't wear him out. So when I call him it's just fun calls, like, I'm his buddy.

Like, I'm not one of these people like, hey, so-and-so wants you to, which I feel like I work for the government. Every day, it's somebody sending me something. Can you give me a pardon? Can you know, this happen to me? Can you tell the president? I'm like, no. I'm his buddy. Like, I'm trying to get my ticketing thing done. You know, and I've been by aside since day one, so I'm not putting anybody's agenda above mine. So if you're listening, just know that up front. Has it always been that way, the four to five hours of sleep night? Have you been built that way since you were in the 20s? Oh, no, no, no. I was a little wilder in my youth. The other Bendis health kick. It's like the healthy I get, the less I sleep, almost.

That's been the pattern, but, you know, I was, you know, I, I didn't, I didn't see a day until 10 o'clock for, for years, but I was also in six gear, you know, I can't, I'm, at this point in life, I'm trying to find third gear. I'm either off or six, you know, whether it's working, playing, partying, anything. And I'm trying to, like, you know, make, make life sustainable, being in a rock and roll. But I think third year is where it has to end up at some point. Why did that happen? Was there something that happened in your life? Why did you decide to get healthy? I don't think he or you will mind me saying that I know you and Pete used to work out together

a little bit. And I saw you a year or two ago. I know you love pickleball. What caped off the health kick? And it was just time. It was just time to replace the bad habits with good ones. And, you know, it was two being friends with Dana White and that all scene, you know, having somebody, having people to see the changes in them.

You know, it's like, you know, you're unstoppable, untouchable through probably your 30s, you know, when you're rocking and rolling every night and you get pizza and drink beer and hang out and do it again. And your 40s, you kind of, you don't even realize it's creeping up on you. And you're like, oh, man, a little beer got going. You know, especially when you're seeing yourself on TV and in pictures, you got. And it's a great check. Yes, very good check. It's a great health check.

So then when I, you know, got close to 50, I'm like, all right, it's time. It's time. And I, you know, I mean, if you just, you know, AI or Google, like the average age of a pop rock star? Yeah. I think it's 47. Really? So I'm winning.

I'm winning right now. You said that you and the president have a lot in common. We just mentioned the sleep. What else do you have in common? Work ethic. I love for America. Love for family and friends. Loyalty.

Fun. That dude is the funniest guy. You know, I've ever met. People are like, what's like to golf? Like, I'm my greatest golf partner ever. Just out there you're so relaxed, feel like fun, even enamored with the presidency, you know? That takes a little time, kind of. But I mean, I tell my friends when they come to have breakfast with us or something, I'm like,

in a minute and a half, you'll feel like this is one of our old buddies we're just hanging out talking with. And I know all the presidents, and I've been, you know, blessed enough to be around him and spend time. They're all very charismatic. You have to be. Be at a level, but he's on another level, man. He's just so down to earth, so down. Cool, I mean, unpretentious. I mean, I'm out there golfing in a wife-beater

because I wanted to get some son. He's like, whatever you want. Like, my dad, like, first time we golfed, he's like, don't smoke and drink beer around the press. And I'm like, like, the third home, I'm like, mind if I have a cigar, his friend? He's like, no, do whatever you want to hearse's bar? Want a fan talk?

And I'm like, do you mind if I get a beer? He's like, no, drink your beer. I'm like, yes. Let's take a quick break, but we'll be right back on Will Cain Country. I'm Dana Perino. This week on Perino on politics, I am joined by Executive Vice President at Targeted Victory, Matt Gorman. Listen and follow now at Fox News Podcast.com. Or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

This week on the Fox True Crime podcast, I'm joined by retired FBI special agent Stacey Perkins as she discusses the Bureau's Innocent Images Initiative and the many child predators she has helped to bring down. Listen and follow now at Fox Truecrime.com. It is wild. I've had that personal experience as well. I don't know them as well as you. But it's hard to explain to people whose only impression of the president is the caricature they get through 90% of your media channels. Yeah, the media paints this picture. I mean, I've been saying that the mainstream media is like public enemy number one at this point, you know, no matter what you think about them. I mean, there's just sometimes facts. You know, some of the good things that are, you can't argue against them that are just good for this country no matter what your politics are. and they won't even, anything that puts them in a positive light,

they will not even give a nod to it. And it's just, it's just disgusting. What did you think of the 86-47 thing going around yesterday, including the former FBI director, James Coney? My first thing was like, oh, he must drunk tweet too. You know, he'll send out some drunk tweets. I'm like, but I'm in a rock band. Not the former FBI director.

The FBI director knows what 86 somebody means, clearly. You know, I mean, clearly knows what that means, and that's effed up that. You know, this guy said two assassination attempts, you know, President Trump meant you had the former FBI, had the FBI, saying, you know, alluding to 86, 47, like, what the hell's the matter with people? How do you explain it? I was, you know, TDS at the highest levels. I mean, I used to laugh about TDS. I thought there was a funny thing, Trump derangements in him, like, ha, ha, that's a good one.

And over the last few years, I'm like, this is real. This is real. Like, this is literally, I'm like, you know, I love you. slashing these pharmaceutical prices and stuff. And I've said, you know, hopefully one of these companies, Pfizer can come up with a cure for TDS. There's half this nation that's infected. You said most people, when they meet him within a minute and a half,

they see the charm, they see the personality, see the real man. See the realness. Yeah. The realness. Authenticity. You can't fake real. So did the over under hit for you when you took Bill Maher to the White House? Over.

I mean, it was, me and Dana just sat back. and enjoyed the show. We had a front row seat to what potentially could have been the biggest poop show on earth.

You can talk like you want to talk. This is the Will Kane show. The biggest show on earth. We had a front row seat. And, you know, it was just so... It was, you know, the president, first off,

was not too happy with me about lying in us up. He agreed to it. He kind of forgot that he agreed to it. And he called me a few times with concerns. And then I talked to Bill. And I was like, look, Bill's, you know, he's not, I was worried, too. Like, is Hollywood going to try to use this to get thrown out of the White House and get ratings?

Up and Bill goes, Bob, I'm not going to go in there and sabotage something that could potentially bring this country closer together. I'm like, Mr. President, he gets it. He's not going to grieve with the politics. Just know that going in, of course. He's not going to put out a maga hat and, you know, dance around for a picture with us. But then we're in the overall office. This was funny. I think it's okay to share.

this. I don't like to speak out of school when it's not appropriate, but they're like, pull Bob up a chair. He goes, what the hell are we doing tonight? And I'm like, what do you mean? He goes, you know, he's just going to, dinner's going to be fine. He's going to throw us under the bus. You don't need this. I don't need this. He goes, you know, I just found out this. I just found out about this from Melania. And I'm like, sir, I know you have a lot in your plate and I get it. I was like, number one, two questions. Number one, do you think that I would line up a dinner with one of your harshest critics? without getting your approval? And number two, do I have the power to do that?

Can I just line up these dinners and you show up at the White House? Without your approval or your notice ahead of time? That's kind of funny. Let's take a quick break, but we'll be right back on Will Cain Country. What did your ancestors really do all day? Beyond names, what were their lives like? With Ancestry's global historical records, you can discover incredible stories about how your ancestors lived and worked.

And for a limited time, you can explore select. occupation records for free. Imagine finding your great-grandfather's RCMP records or discovering your ancestor's name in the UK and Ireland nursing register. Don't miss out. Free access ends August 24th. Visit ancestry.ca for more details. Terms apply. You mentioned a minute ago that you have a lot in common and one of them is the first thing you said is love for America. Yeah. So when did that, has that always been a part of your life? I met your brother. Is that how you guys grew up? There's just something that developed in your life over time.

No, no, that's how we grew up. My dad and mom has told us just good values, you know, being patriots. You know, we attended church, you know, played baseball and sports. And we did hard work on the weekends around our beautiful, you know, a beautiful compound that my father built with his bare hands, you know, with a great car dealership. And yeah, we always had an American flag hanging, picture George Washington, Abe Lincoln.

And yeah, I think, you know, then when I started, you know, have some notoriety and make some money, as we call it, you know, my mom was the one that really pushed me into philanthropy and helping other people out. And when it came up, the USS Cole was bombed. She was the one that said, you ought to do something nice for them, you know, and we did a show and gave the money to those sailors families that died and that really kicked off things that, you know, led to so many U.S.O. tours and playing around the world for our troops, you know, especially during those god-off of wars. And so, yeah, that was 100 percent instilled to me by my family. My grandfather. father served to World War II and my uncle in Vietnam. And you've leaned all the way in, unapologetically. I know the answer you're going to give me is I never gave a shit, Will. But when you did lean in, you have a lot of relationships. Bill Maher is one of them. And by the way, I pride myself on this, Bob. I have friends that don't agree with me. It doesn't preclude us from being friends. But in your business, it does for them often. That a lot of people say, no more, no more friendship with Kid Rob. That's just, well, number one, I don't give a fool.

You were going to say that. But number two, it really, it's like, you know, when you find yourself in hard times, difficult times, you find out who your friends are. It just weeds out the bad ambres, so to speak, you know? It's like when you go to Kid Rock's Honky Talk, you kind of know the clientele's going to be there. When you go to my new restaurant in Nashville, you kind of know the starting point. I kind of look at it as like it's a great singles hookup spot, you know what I mean? Because you're kind of going into it halfway, knowing a little bit more what somebody's kind of values are, mindset is about things and there's a good chance people are going to be patriots you know

love their country and hard working hardworking folks and so actually i'd actually look at it as a blessing you know there's so many artists who are so scared they tap dance around these issues are scared to say how they feel i mean i've said it before i'll say it again i'll give taylor swift credit for at least standing up for what she believes in i think it's garbage i don't believe in any of i think she's ill-informed she probably ought to listen to her dad a little bit more but you know at the same time she's got the balls to stand up for what she believes in and i don't hate her for that i don't agree what they're wanting to be you know i think a lot of her politics lion wanted to be hollywood starly i think that's a lot of celebrities and i think for me i don't know if i i hear you saying this

i think to some extent as well if you're doing it because you think it's the popular path or the easy road to go down or the easiest way to sell tickets i can't respect that but if you truly believe perhaps like bill mar does these things you can be wrong but i can respect that you got to your incorrectness authentically. Absolutely. Real is real. Absolutely. You said last night on Jesse Waters when we were talking about some of these stars.

Cure the coffee. It's okay. We roll through it. We're talking about Bruce Springsteen. You're talking about Bruce Springsteen with Jesse. And you said something like, well, Bruce has got a few good songs, but for my money, pound for pound, it's Bob Seeger. Yeah, there's no heartland rock and roll.

And I love a lot of Bruce Springsteen songs, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, but for me, Bob Seeger, you know, not even just my friendship with him or being from Detroit. I just look at it pound for pound, note for note, songwriting for songwriting, you know, singing, everything. You know, there's great records, you know, Bob did a muscle show and all over.

Like, there's just nobody touches them in that space. I mean, not only am I his biggest fan, but I'm jealous that I'll never be that good. Well, when I heard you say that, me wonder. So you start out, and it's largely rap, hip hop where you start. Then comes to rock and roll over time. It's also brought in country. So I'm just curious besides Bob Seeger, either as a kid or now who you look to and go, that's my inspiration. Oh, man, it's everything from Run DMC and a very early old school hip hop in the 80s. I could name hip hop artists for day in that space, but I'll just

put Run DMC at the pinnacle. And then, you know, my parents had such a great record collection of Bob here in the Eagles. And everything from Mount John and Johnny Cash to Whalen Jennings. And it was so much different music. And then my sister and brother were in different stuff. And, you know, hip hop is what grabbed me first. Probably it was just something that hit me musically that I loved, but it was also the rebellious of it.

You know, just it was lined up parallel with rock and roll. And as I got older, I really thought about it. I was like, in our lifetimes and pretty much since the existence of music, if you don't go back to like Celtic music, you know, in Europe and things like this. But American music, like, Everything was birthed by jazz music and the blues, and everything was a form of that, from rock and roll to soul music, you know, R&B, country, everything.

We didn't see anything else. I got to witness the birth of hip hop, which now has its fingerprints like the blues and jazz on every form of music that comes out, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. But, you know, so, yeah, I've just always gone with my heart and somehow was blessed to just, you know, be a truth teller. I've learned that at a young age, and that's reflected in my music and my life.

Let's take a quick break, but we'll be right back on Will Cain Country. Don't you think it's interesting you said that you were drawn to hip-hop in part because of its rebelliousness? I was too. I listen to rap. I listen to run DMC. I listen to you. And rebelliousness is an appeal. It's what attracts kids to music.

Don't you think it's fascinating that over time, our point of view, one that you and I share, came to be the rebelliousness for kids today. it's wild because being a conservative became like the but it's wild because you're actually in the majority and yet you're also rebellious yeah i mean i mean once again maga has just changed the republican party for the better in my opinion it's just completely changed it for the better in my opinion you know it was it was so kind of you know this there was no room for me in there as kid rock you know for a lot of years i was but there wasn't any room for me to to be what i am now and in the party, you know, with President Trump. You weren't walking out at a UFC event

with your song playing in front of George W. Bush. Yeah, I wasn't golfing with the president while he's playing the unedited version of American badass with some pretty hard language in it. All right. Finally, I want to talk about this, kid rock, rock and rodeo. Okay, this is fascinating, and you've described it as P.T. Barnum meets the rodeo.

And I love that on multiple levels that I want to explain to you, but I want you to explain to me what you mean when you say you're bringing P.T. Barnum to the rodeo. Well, first of all, you know, it was a thing, you know, that I did deal with the PBR to start a league. We're both holders of that. And they have a team's bull riding format that they started. And I was talking about I wanted to take rodeo to places like I didn't have it in Detroit growing up. You know what I mean? To different places like that. Of course, we're started in Texas, which they're very spoiled in the world of rodeo and all things cowboy and and so we figured out let's take the team's competition try to franchise and sell those

teams eventually and create something totally different more drama which cowboys and cowgirls don't like their rodeo being messed with too much but after we did our first event last year every one of these world class you know cowboys cowgirls world champions came up to you were like that was incredible we love it i got their co-signature on that which meant a lot and and for me you know my thing isn't putting the rodeo together you know i play a cowboy in a song that's about it I got some horses and some long heads, long horse steers of chickens. That's about it. I don't pretend to be a world-class cowboy in no level.

But I said, I want to, you know, PT bar on this up. I want there to be shenanigans in entertainment at the highest levels. Like, the format has always been, you if there's a music component, it's the rodeo, and then a concert. I go, I want to kick this off with a huge grand entrance, and I want our thing to be a special surprise guest with just a big, you know, 10-minute opening number to set the tone for the night. And then in between the disciplines as they're going on, you know, the first thing I said, and they thought I was joking, it was like, we got to get midget Mattadors and, like, midget's riding mini bulls and just like shenanigans at the highest level. And entertainment. Was that sold?

They were kind of laughing. I'm like, no, no, I'm serious. I'm like, we need shenanigans at the highest level. Entertainment that's just fun for the entire family. Yeah, it's edgy and it's pushing the boundaries, but it's just fun. Like, somehow sports has gotten so serious. And, I mean, you look at what the Savannah bananas are doing and baseball. And I was like, and I actually just had this meeting, I go, this is what I'm screaming about for two years.

You know, I've been following the Savannah Bananas, too. And, you know, they just sold out Nissan Stadium. And Nashville, I go, boom, there it is. I love baseball. I love all sports. But I'm like, this elevates and it's something else. This is entertainment, you know, mixed with sports. And that's what I want to do with the rodeo.

It's like you're stealing my questions or we're on the same wavelength. And I've only ever been on that same wavelength. It's one other person. He's now the Secretary of Defense. But I saw the Savannah bananas three weeks ago. I didn't know anything about them. And I said, what am I going to see? And somebody said, it's like the Harlem Globetrotters meets baseball, but on steroids.

I went at Clemson. They sold out Death Valley, 80,000 people, Davos, when he runs out of the tunnel. And you get out there, and it's exactly what you said. Yeah, it's baseball, but it's the circus. It's entertainment. It's the Harlem Globetrotters. And when I was reading and thinking about what you're doing here, I immediately thought of the Savannah Bananas. Absolutely.

thousand percent that was the best way i could convey that to the pbr who've been great partners um in the top dogs at tk o now that i put it in those terms and it's funny it relates switching gears to like this ticketing thing i'm doing like i'm trying to you know get a 10% cap on the resale tickets get tickets at fair prices in the hands of the fans and it's been a little tough to you know even though the president's moved the ball farther down the field than anybody with his executive order brought this issue to the forefront and directed the ftc DOJ to look into this. It's hard, you know, selling them on something that's a little bit anti-capitalistic, you know, because we're both capitalists to the bones. But when the people are getting screwed,

I go, this lines up with what you're doing with pharmaceuticals. Exactly the same thing. You know what I mean? Like, why can't somebody sell a pharmaceutical for whatever money they can get in America? That's capitalism. Well, when it goes too far, people hide under the guise of capitalism. Somebody needs to step in. This is where regulations actually make sense, not crippling small business, protecting the American worker, the American consumer. So, you know, it related very easily to them like that. I think we've got a good shot of getting it. Tell me more about how that's going in that I covered it this week on my show, the potential of capping prices of pharmaceuticals. And it is a tension. It is a struggle because you say, we are a free market. And you and I, we believe in

capitalism. If the price of something is the price of something, that's what the market bears. But something happens in a few markets, where it gets warped. And it's a lot. And it doesn't reflect a true market. Maybe it's instead of capitalism, it's corporatism. But how do you reconcile that and explain and get it where you want when it comes to tickets and a reasonable price for the fans? Exactly what I say. I mean, I don't claim to be the smartest guy in the room in the issue on this. I have the loudest voice. And I've been, you know, working on this and studying it for probably 20 years, along with some other artists who are, who we really want to get the ticket prices into the hands of the fans at the prices we set. I mean,

I mean, what other business doesn't control their inventory. You know, and ticket master, I've been in business with them in Live Nation for years. And Live Nation's been great in a lot of ways, but I'll say it again, like, if they lose their company, get broke up, I'm not going to shed a tear at all. They've been very bad actors in that space. And they'll blame it on competition, this, that, and the other, or it's lack of competition, because it really is a monopoly. And I know the DOJ is looking into that. I've spoke to them, Bonnie. You know, I could end up testifying.

I don't know where this thing goes. but, you know, I'm also at the point where it's like, okay, if you kill Ticketmaster, like I said, I'm not going to shed a tear, but it doesn't solve the problem. I want to solve the problem, you know, and the best thing I've, I mean, it's like an airline ticket. If you buy an airline ticket, you can't resell your airline ticket? Right. You know, so can we do tickets like that?

I mean, I couldn't go to Ticketmaster any time during my career and say, okay, what's the deal with the building, this, that, and the other, what do you guys got your ticket prices and fees at? Okay, it's 10,000 seat building. I want to give you that money and buy those 10,000 tickets. Right. Then I own my inventory and I'll resell them. No, we control that.

You know, it's so much conundering. And this isn't just a ticketing. It's the whole music business. It is the biggest, it is the most evil business on earth. And if I can get this ticketing thing done, I'm like, you might put the record companies in my sights next because they've been terrible actors too. What business do you know that basically gives you a loan? You're going to get a record deal for a loan.

Yes, they do a lot of promotion. You know, things like this, they charge it all back to you, so you repay that loan, and then they take 80% of the profits. Who can survive on that business model? And I'm not saying there's not a ton of money in the business. For those that make it, there's oodles. But for the middle-level, mower-level artists who make a living doing this, it's just another scumbag system of people being greedy, and they need to be checked, too.

But their value is also declined, right? In the past, the purpose of the record company was distribution and promotion, both of which you now control. Well, I do, but people who still have record do, like it was supposed to be the digital age, was supposed to usher in this new thing. You know, we've heard about these black artists. It just got screwed from the beginning of time. And most artists, you know, and you're like, okay, this digital age is going to bring us to a 50-50 spot, at least. Nope.

They just figured out how to put another page in the contract and screw you again. All right. Last thing, you're well beyond this now. We were just talking in terms that you are now an owner. You're an entertainer. that's only a partial description. I mean, you're part of this whole thing. You've really crossed over.

You're an entrepreneur. That sounds funny. Entrepreneur Kid Rock. That's going to be a tough sell. I don't think so, man. I don't think so. It's part of what you've been from the beginning, a rebel and a visionary.

Your music is unique, and now your business is unique. Yeah. One of the best compliments I ever had was somebody said that I'm, I'm disobedient but decent. And I like that. I like that. And yeah, I mean, I've been very fortunate, you know, my father was a very smart business man. Although all the advice he'd given me through the years was I went against and it worked out pretty well. But I still have some gene in me or something that, you know, is giving me that ethic of hard work and, you know, trying to be intelligent about things I'm going to talk about or change is going to make like in ticketing or starting a business or being a partner in the business. So, you know, I like to be on time. I think that's our biggest commodity start there.

I'm a great guest. I'll take my plate to the sink and make my bed. So I get invited back. And when I'm a partner in a business or something, I work my ass off and give it a thousand percent. And you'll see it here. I have to rock rodeo. Thank you, man, so much.

Thank you, Will. Love your show. Thanks for so much time. Thank you, man. Whoa. Listen to ad free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcast, and Amazon Prime members. You can listen to this show,

ad free on the Amazon Music app. I'm going to be able to be. I'm not I'm going to I'm going to I'm and I'm

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I don't know. Thank you.