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Just a month after a pair of U.S. Army attack helicopters made a low-level flight over his property near Nashville, Kid Rock soared Monday himself into an Apache attack helicopter and took off.
Rock boarded the chopper during a visit to Fort Belvoir in Virginia, where he was accompanied by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The former Fox News host called Rock a “patriot and great supporter of our troops” in a social media post – along with a photo that showed him and the rapper-singer in front of a helicopter. Rock’s flight in the AH-64, which lasted about 10 minutes according to the Military Air Tracking Alliance, was filmed for his upcoming Freedom 250 concert tour. On previous Kid Rock tours, he opened his shows with a pre-recorded message from President Trump.
“Robert ‘Kid Rock’ Ritchie participated in several encounters with soldiers and filmed videos for Memorial Day, America’s 250th birthday, and his Freedom 250 tour,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told NPR.
Tour with headwind
Rock’s Freedom 250 Tour kicks off Friday in Dallas, Texas. On Saturday he will perform at the parallel Rock the Country festival, which brings together artists like Jason Aldean and begins in Bellville, Texas. The tour has already suffered some setbacks: bands like Shinedown and artists like Carter Faith have pulled out, and dates have also been canceled.
Rock’s first encounter with the helicopters – a viral video of him saluting the machines as they circled over his home – sparked outrage online and led to the pilots’ suspension. Almost immediately afterwards, however, Hegseth lifted the suspensions. “No punishment. No investigation. Move on, patriots,” he wrote on social media.
In addition to the helicopter photo op, Hegseth published another picture showing Rock at the Pentagon, where he spoke to soldiers – around 30 kilometers from Fort Belvoir. What Rock spoke about at Defense Department headquarters was not revealed.
