HOW POPULAR IS KID ROCK? MAGA’S FAVORITE ROCKER PEAKED IN POPULARITY ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO
Topline
Country-rap musician Kid Rock, popular MAGA figure and Turning Point USA’s choice to perform at an alternative halftime show during the Super Bowl, had a formidable run of hit albums in the late 1990s and 2000s, though his recent output has lags far behind popular music artists of today, like streaming juggernaut and Super Bowl headliner Bad Bunny.
Key Facts
Kid Rock has had few hit singles—he has just six career entries on the Billboard Hot 100—but he had a series of successful albums throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, including “Devil Without A Cause,” released in 1998 and certified 11-times platinum.
Eight of Kid Rock’s albums have hit the Billboard 200 top 10, mostly in the 2000s, including his only No. 1 record, “Rock N Roll Jesus,” which topped the chart in 2007 and was named by Billboard as the sixth-biggest album of 2008.
Kid Rock’s last album, “Bad Reputation,” peaked at No. 124 upon release in 2022 and fell off the chart one week later, marking the worst-performing studio album of his career.
Kid Rock hasn’t had a song land on the Hot 100 in more than a decade, when “First Kiss” hit No. 66 in 2015, and he hasn’t had a top 10 single since 2002, when his Sheryl Crow collaboration “Picture” hit No. 4.
He has sold 31.5 million albums total, according to data from Luminate, about 375,000 of which were sold in 2025, and his music has streamed a cumulative 4.9 billion times.
Kid Rock Has One Top 10 Song
“Picture” (released in 2002) is Kid Rock’s only Billboard Hot 100 top 10 song, though his most-streamed song on Spotify is “All Summer Long,” released in 2007, which now has more than 612 million streams. He’s only earned two gold certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America, for “All Summer Long” and “Picture.” His other biggest songs on Spotify were released in the late 1990s—“Bawitdaba” (170 million streams), “Cowboy” (149 million streams) and “Only God Knows Why” (87 million streams). But his latest releases haven’t earned much commercial success. The most-streamed song on his latest album—“We The People,” released in 2022—has 14 million Spotify streams, and contains lyrics that praise President Donald Trump and condemn former President Joe Biden, particularly over his response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
How Does Super Bowl Headliner Bad Bunny Compare?
Bad Bunny has far more career streams in the United States—26.8 billion, compared to 4.9 billion by Kid Rock—and many more globally. He lags behind Kid Rock in album sales, with 19.6 million units sold in his career, according to Luminate—though he began releasing music after physical albums became largely obsolete. He was Spotify’s top artist globally of 2025, ranking No. 5 in the United States, while Billboard named his Grammy-winning album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” the eighth-biggest album of 2025. Bad Bunny has charted 113 songs on the Hot 100, including three top 10 hits last year.
Chief Critics
Bad Bunny’s halftime headlining gig was met with backlash from some top Republicans, including President Donald Trump, who called him a “terrible choice” in January and suggested his performance would “sow hatred.” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., criticized the choice of Bad Bunny in October, saying it “sounds like he’s not someone who appeals to a broader audience.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt renewed criticism of Bad Bunny earlier this week, slamming him and other celebrities for saying “ICE Out” in speeches at the Grammys on Sunday. When Bad Bunny was announced as the halftime show pick in September, some right-wing commentators slammed the choice, noting he primarily releases music in Spanish and has a history of criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
How Kid Rock Became A Maga—and Trump—favorite
Kid Rock supported Trump during his campaign for the presidency in 2016, performing at a charity concert during the Republican National Convention and launching a line of Trump-themed clothing, which included a hat that said “Make America Bad Ass Again” and a shirt that called any state that voted for Hillary Clinton “Dumbf-ckistan.” He has met with Trump on numerous occasions, including in 2017 when Trump treated Kid Rock and other supporters, including Ted Nugent and Sarah Palin, to a private dinner. Kid Rock and Trump golfed together in 2019, and Kid Rock endorsed his 2024 campaign. The musician claimed in 2022 Trump had previously asked him for advice on relations with North Korea, which he said he was not “qualified” to answer. Kid Rock’s 2022 tour opened with a video message from Trump, who praised Kid Rock as “amazing,” and last year, Trump praised Kid Rock (whom he said he calls “Bob”) for opening a new Nashville restaurant. Vice President JD Vance praised Kid Rock and the other headliners of Turning Point’s halftime show as a “fantastic lineup.” Kid Rock has also been the center of various controversies, including in 2023 when he slammed Bud Light’s brief partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. He posted a video of himself shooting beer cans and said, “F— Anheuser-Busch,” the company behind Bud Light. He also defended his prior use of the confederate flag in 2015, telling critics to “kiss my ass.”
What Do We Know About Turning Point Usa’s Halftime Show?
Turning Point USA, the conservative organization led by Erika Kirk, widow of late cofounder Charlie Kirk, announced the lineup earlier this week for its “All-American Halftime Show,” billed as an alternative to Bad Bunny’s performance. In a press release, Turning Point called the performance “a halftime show with no agenda other than to celebrate faith, family, and freedom,” and described headliner Kid Rock as a “global superstar and Waffle House Legend Award winner.” Other performers include country singer Brantley Gilbert, Grammy nominated singer Lee Brice and country singer Gabby Barrett. In a statement, Kid Rock acknowledged the apparent popularity discrepancy between himself and Bad Bunny, as well as the massive audience the halftime show annually reaches. “We’re approaching this show like David and Goliath. Competing with the pro football machine and a global pop superstar is almost impossible…or is it?” Kid Rock said, saying the Turning Point show is “for folks who love America.”
What Do We Know About Bad Bunny’s Halftime Show?
Bad Bunny participated in a press conference Thursday morning, declining to give specific details about his plans for Sunday’s performance, but he said he wants to “bring to the stage, of course, a lot of my culture.” He did not say whether he would bring surprise guests with him on stage, but said the performance will “be fun and it’s going to be a party.”
Contra
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended booking Bad Bunny both after his Grammys speech and after the choice had sparked backlash. Goodell called Bad Bunny “one of the great artists in the world” earlier this week, saying he understands his “platform is used to unite people and to be able to bring people together.” In October, Goodell said any Super Bowl halftime headliner pick would garner backlash because it is difficult to please an audience of more than 100 million, clarifying the choice was “carefully thought through.”
Further Reading
White House Slams Bad Bunny’s ‘ICE Out’ Grammys Speech—Latest Attack Ahead Of Super Bowl (Forbes)
President Trump says he won’t attend Super Bowl, criticizes Bad Bunny and Green Day (The Athletic)
2026-02-07T13:07:40Z