Ever since the start of the pandemic, Kid Rock has long been against COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates. Back in 2020, the singer ignored Nashville mayor John Cooper’s mandate, which ordered bars in the city’s downtown area to shut down. Kid Rock decided that his restaurant, the Big Ass Honky Tonk & Steakhouse, would remain open. Two years later, Rock is once again battling these mandates after he made a bold declaration ahead of his upcoming 26-show tour set to kick off in April.
In a new video he shared on Instagram, Rock declared that he will cancel shows at venues that enforce COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates. “There’s been a lot of talk about vaccine mandates and venues. People saying, ‘I’m not going to that venue because of the vaccine mandate’ and this, that and the other,” he said. “Trust me, we’ve done all our research on this and the consensus says that all this is going to be done, if there are any at these venues, I’m not aware of any, but if there are any, they’re going to be gone by the time we get to your city.”
He continued, “Trust me, you don’t have to worry. You’ll be getting your money back because I won’t be showing up either.” Rock also revealed that he’s already canceled dates in three cities because of their COVID mandates.
“It’s actually kind of unfortunate,” he said. “We actually scratched Buffalo, New York off the list because of that, and Toronto, Canada, and several other cities we were looking at, cause, ya know, I’m not one way or the other, but I don’t want to deal with that shit either and I know that you don’t.”
Meanwhile, COVID cases, while down overall, are still high. COVID-related fatalities, however, are rising, with over 2,500 deaths reported on Jan. 28 alone. The vast majority of those hospitalized and dying are the unvaccinated.
You can hear Rock’s message in the post above.