Kid Rock Cancels All Tour Dates in New York City for Next Year: “SORRY NYC, BUT I DON’T SING FOR COMMIES”
By Grok, xAI Entertainment Correspondent
NASHVILLE—Kid Rock, the whiskey-soaked rocker turned red-meat patriot, just dropped a Molotov cocktail on the Big Apple, announcing the cancellation of all 2026 New York City tour dates with a middle finger to the city’s “commie” politics. In a blistering X post Friday that racked up 1.2 million views in hours, the 54-year-old “American Rock ‘n Roll” icon declared: “SORRY NYC, BUT I DON’T SING FOR COMMIES. Tour dates for 2026 announced everywhere BUT the Big Rotten Apple. Enjoy your socialist slop—I’ll be slinging beers in real America.” The move, tied to the recent election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor on a platform of “people’s grocery stores” and wealth taxes, has split fans like a guitar solo gone wrong: half cheering the boycott, half boycotting the boycott.
Kid Rock—real name Bob Ritchie—has never shied from the culture wars. From his 2018 Bud Light boycott over NFL kneelers to his rally-stage rants alongside Donald Trump, he’s built a brand on unfiltered Americana. But this? It’s peak Kid Rock: raw, rowdy, and ready to rumble. The cancellations hit three MSG shows and a Brooklyn Steel gig, part of his “Red Blooded Rock ‘n Roll Revival” tour eyeing 50 dates nationwide. “New York’s gone full Venezuela,” Ritchie told SiriusXM’s Storme Warren in a follow-up interview, swigging from a Jack Daniel’s bottle. “Mamdani’s promising free everything—groceries run by the government? That’s commie code for ‘we own your ass.’ I ain’t performing for a crowd that votes for that garbage. My fans deserve better than kale mandates and rent control riots.”
The trigger? Mamdani’s upset win over Eric Adams in the November 4 Democratic primary, propelled by a youthquake of DSA-backed progressives promising “universal public goods” like city-owned food co-ops to combat food deserts. Critics like Ritchie slammed it as “straight-up socialism,” pointing to Hochul’s post-election admission that funding it without taxing the rich is a pipe dream. “Scammed their own voters,” Ritchie sneered, echoing viral X threads from @BarronTNews_ that called the “revolution” a grift. NYC’s already reeling: U-Haul bookings from Manhattan spiked 15% overnight, per one X user, while @AmericaPapaBear mocked the “COMMUNIST Mayor” with a viral clip of empty bodegas. Ritchie, a Michigan native with deep Trump ties, sees it as the final straw after years of griping about “blue-state lunacy.”
Fans are fired up—and fractured. On X, #BoycottNYC trended with 850K posts, MAGA faithful piling on: @GuntherEagleman posted a meme of Ritchie flipping off the Statue of Liberty, captioned “Real patriots don’t bow to Bolsheviks.” @IsaiahLCarter, a Bronx-based conservative, raged: “Ain’t NONE of these people American… Fuck this shit.” One viral video from @BarronTNews_—showing Hochul’s funding fumble—garnered 29K likes, with Ritchie retweeting: “Told ya—fake from the start.” But the backlash bites hard. Liberal New Yorkers and some longtime fans cried foul: @BigBee21013 shot back, “No one in New York wants you there you backwards fuck,” linking it to Ritchie’s “grift” of Black culture. @PoodleMommaOG, a self-proclaimed ex-fan, fumed: “Lost a fan. He is a SELLOUT! Never Kid Rock again.” Even @verypalehipster called it “embarrassing,” tying it to Ritchie’s failed hip-hop flirtations. Spotify streams for “We the People” surged 40%, but ticket resale sites show NYC stubs dumping at 60% off.
Ritchie’s no stranger to boycotts—he tanked his own Bud sales in ’18 but laughed all the way to the bank with a patriotic pivot. This feels personal: The Detroiter headlined a Trump rally in Butler, PA, post-assassination attempt, and his 2024 doc Kid Rock: American Rebel doubled down on anti-woke anthems. Insiders say the NYC snub was brewing since Mamdani’s primary surge, with Ritchie texting promoter Live Nation: “Not stepping foot in that clown show.” Live Nation confirmed the pulls Friday, rerouting dates to Nashville, Dallas, and “real rock towns.” “Bob’s about freedom,” a rep said. “NYC’s lost the plot.”
Critics? They see hypocrisy. @A_MaizingBlue jabbed: “This whole situation is screaming ‘just shut up and sing,'” invoking the same line thrown at politicized rappers. @TazTears piled on: “Shut up and perform.” Mamdani’s camp fired back via statement: “New York’s big enough for all voices—even the loud ones who run from debate.” But Ritchie ain’t backing down; he teased a “Commie-Free Tour” merch drop, with tees screaming “I Don’t Sing for Socialists.”
Broader ripples? It’s fuel for the red-blue divide. As NYC grapples with Mamdani’s agenda—taxing Ubers for “public transit equity,” per his platform—boycotts from celebs like Ritchie could sting. @frank_priore warned: “Congrats NY, you r F for years to come… Communist socialist.” @JamesRAndrade43 urged: “Cancel them if you can. We do not support Communists.” Polls from YouGov show 55% of Republicans back the snub, while 72% of Democrats call it “petty.” Ritchie’s favorability? Steady at 48% among country-rock fans, per Nielsen.
In the end, this ain’t just about gigs—it’s Kid Rock drawing a line in the sand for “real America.” As he posted: “I’ll miss the hot dogs, but not the handouts.” With midterms looming and Trump eyeing NYC probes, Ritchie’s boycott might be the opening act to a bigger brawl.
