Skip to content

Future of Music Canada 2026

Search

Kid Rock Takes Joy Ride in Army Helicopter, Addresses the Pentagon

The singer-rapper and the current administration, never ones to stop short, extended the life of Rock's recent helicopter controversy with a photo op on Monday

Kid Rock Takes Joy Ride in Army Helicopter, Addresses the Pentagon

Kid Rock, seen here not in a helicopter, will kick off his summer tour on Friday with video of him in a helicopter.

Gary Miller/Getty Images
Joseph Hudak
By Joseph HudakApr 28, 2026
Joseph Hudak
See Full Bio

Just a month after receiving a fly-by of his Nashville-area home by a pair of U.S. Army attack helicopters, Kid Rock took to the skies for a joyride of his own in an Apache gunship on Monday.

Rock got to the choppa during a visit to Virginia’s Fort Belvoir, where he was joined by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The former Fox News host called Rock “a patriot and huge supporter of our troops” in a social media post that showed him and the rapper-singer posing in front of a helicopter. Rock’s flight on the AH-64, which according to the Military Air Tracking Alliance, lasted about 10 minutes, was filmed for use on Rock’s upcoming “Freedom 250” concert tour. During past Kid Rock tours, he used a pre-taped message from President Trump to open his shows.

“Robert ‘Kid Rock’ Ritchie participated in multiple troop touches with service members and filmed videos for Memorial Day, America’s 250th birthday, and for his Freedom 250 tour,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement to NPR.

Joined my friend @KidRock — and some of our great @USArmy Apache pilots — for a ride this morning. (More to come on that!)

Kid Rock is a patriot and huge supporter of our troops. The War Department is wasting no time celebrating America’s 250th — home of the free because of the… pic.twitter.com/7EyhlaCeUj
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) April 28, 2026

Rock’s Freedom 250 Tour kicks off Friday in Dallas, Texas. On Saturday, he’ll perform on the coinciding Rock the Country festival tour, which features Jason Aldean and other artists and begins in Bellville, Texas. The tour has been hit with its share of bad press, from artists like Shinedown and Carter Faith dropping off, to canceled dates.

Rock’s first encounter with the helicopters — a viral video of him saluting the aircraft as they hovered over his house — sparked controversy online and led to the suspension of the pilots. Almost immediately after, however, Hegseth rescinded the suspensions. “No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, patriots,” he posted on social media.

Along with the helicopter photo opp, Hegseth posted another image showing Rock addressing troops at the Pentagon, about 20 miles from Fort Belvoir. The subject of Rock’s address at the headquarters of the Department of Defense was not revealed.

Most Popular

Knicks-Loving Celebrities React to Team’s First Championship in 53 Years

Knicks-Loving Celebrities React to Team’s First Championship in 53 Years

Oliver Tree, ‘Life Goes On’ Singer, Dead at 32
Music News

Oliver Tree, ‘Life Goes On’ Singer, Dead at 32

Olivia Rodrigo, Interpol, L’Rain, and All the Songs You Need to Know This Week
Music News

Olivia Rodrigo, Interpol, L’Rain, and All the Songs You Need to Know This Week

Justin Baldoni to Pay Blake Lively’s Legal Fees in Final ‘It Ends With Us’ Ruling
TV & Movie News

Justin Baldoni to Pay Blake Lively’s Legal Fees in Final ‘It Ends With Us’ Ruling

‘Off Campus’ Team Warns Anyone Harassing Cast ‘Will Be Removed’ From Social Media Accounts
TV & Movie News

‘Off Campus’ Team Warns Anyone Harassing Cast ‘Will Be Removed’ From Social Media Accounts

More Stories

Timothee Chalamet, Taylor Swift, More Celebs Absolutely Lose Their Minds Over Historic Knicks Win

Timothee Chalamet, Taylor Swift, More Celebs Absolutely Lose Their Minds Over Historic Knicks Win

Celebrities shed their usually stoic veneer to fully embrace their wild side in the aftermath of the New York Knicks’ historic Game 4 win Wednesday, taking to the hallways of Madison Square Garden and the streets of Manhattan to celebrate the come-from-behind victory.

As usual, superfan Timothée Chalamet led the postgame festivities, dancing around MSG with similarly joyous fans, including Ben Stiller.

Keep ReadingShow less
Model Suing Kanye West Alleges Rapper’s Behavior on Music Video Set ‘Just Felt Wrong’

Kanye West.

Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Model Suing Kanye West Alleges Rapper’s Behavior on Music Video Set ‘Just Felt Wrong’

Model Jennifer An, who rose to prominence as a finalist on the 2009 season of America’s Next Top Model, is speaking out against Kanye West in a new interview with the BBC. In 2024, she filed a civil suit against the rapper describing how he allegedly choked her and used his fingers to simulate oral sex on her during a shoot for La Roux’s “In for the Kill” music video in 2010. The footage was not included in the final cut. “I feel like he was like trying to touch as much as he could,” she told the news network.

Keep ReadingShow less
Taylor Swift and Haim Sisters Sport ‘Stevie Knicks’ Shirts at Knicks Final Game

Taylor Swift at Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks on June 10, 2026 in New York City.

Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

Taylor Swift and Haim Sisters Sport ‘Stevie Knicks’ Shirts at Knicks Final Game

Taylor Swift, who’s been spotted sitting courtside at Knicks games in the past, showed her support for New York’s team while wearing a “Stevie Knicks” tee alongside Alana and Este Haim when she arrived at Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday. The Knicks are playing against the San Antonio Spurs.

Swift was often seen at Knicks games in the mid 2010s. More recently, the singer and her football-playing fiancé, Travis Kelce, were spotted sitting courtside at the Eastern Conference Finals in May when the Knicks were playing the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Watch Green Day Clown on and Inspire a Band in ‘Nimrods’ Movie Trailer

Green Day

Inaugural Entertainment/Live Nation Studios

Watch Green Day Clown on and Inspire a Band in ‘Nimrods’ Movie Trailer

They could be the “Anal O.G. Dogs” or they could be the “Analog Dogs,” but either way doesn’t matter since these teens got the improbable opportunity to open for Green Day on New Year’s Eve based on a demo tape. That’s the gist of the trailer for Nimrods: A Green Day Comedy, a road-trip movie in which not everything goes smoothly. It opens Aug. 14. Filmmaker Lee Kirk, who wrote and directed the picture, based the story on Green Day’s salad days when they toured in a van before Dookie made them world famous.

“It’s about the experience that Green Day had on the road in the early days of more of a DIY spirit,” Armstrong told The Hollywood Reporter last September when the film premiered with the title New Years Rev at the Tribeca Film Festival. “We played anywhere and everywhere, and a lot of shows would get shut down because the cops would come. But there’s also the mud fight that happened at Woodstock. Lee did a great job of incorporating all of those elements that we’ve had in the past.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Billy Ray Cyrus Reveals He Suffered Temporary Vocal Paralysis After a Near-Fatal Battle With Sepsis

Billy Ray Cyrus Reveals He Suffered Temporary Vocal Paralysis After a Near-Fatal Battle With Sepsis

Billy Ray Cyrus has a lot to celebrate with his new album, The Hill, arriving on June 16, but he had other hills to conquer, including a health crisis, before reaching this point. In a new interview, he revealed that he suffered a near-fatal experience with sepsis in 2024. He noted how the health crisis led to a subsequent diagnosis of temporary vocal paralysis.

In his interview with People, Cyrus didn’t disclose too many details about the health scare, but said he was diagnosed with the condition back in 2024 and consequently faced vocal paralysis, describing the bout as a “very broken moment of my life.” He called his bounce-back a “miracle” crediting his grandson Bear (the 5-year-old son of Braison Cyrus) for helping him see the light in a dark time.

Keep ReadingShow less