Skip to content

Big Sean: 'The More Life I Live, the More I Have to Say'

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

Bernie Taupin Has Been Writing for Elton John for Six Decades. He’s Finally Releasing a New Solo Album
Music Features

Bernie Taupin Has Been Writing for Elton John for Six Decades. He’s Finally Releasing a New Solo Album

Justin Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios Ordered to Pay ‘The New York Times’ $171K in Damages
TV & Movie News

Justin Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios Ordered to Pay ‘The New York Times’ $171K in Damages

Ariana Grande Sues Hackers Over Alleged Theft of Unreleased Music, Photos, and Video Footage
Music News

Ariana Grande Sues Hackers Over Alleged Theft of Unreleased Music, Photos, and Video Footage

Case Against D4vd, Singer Accused of Murdering Teen, Will Proceed to Trial
Music News

Case Against D4vd, Singer Accused of Murdering Teen, Will Proceed to Trial

‘The Odyssey’ Translator Who Inspired Christopher Nolan Thinks His Movie Stinks
TV & Movie News

‘The Odyssey’ Translator Who Inspired Christopher Nolan Thinks His Movie Stinks

More Stories

Charli XCX ‘Begrudgingly’ Shares ‘Music, Fashion, Film (B-Sides Edition)’ on Streaming
John Shearer/WireImage

Charli XCX ‘Begrudgingly’ Shares ‘Music, Fashion, Film (B-Sides Edition)’ on Streaming

Charli XCX dropped an extended version of her new album, Music, Fashion, Film (B-Sides Edition), on iTunes on Sunday. The digital release features three additional tracks: “I Keep On Thinking Bout You Every Single Day and Night,” “Playboy Bunny,” and “If You Take the Music Then What Has She Got?”

The three songs were previously shared with fans on Charli’s @b.sides alt-account on Instagram. They were included as actual b-sides on limited-edition, physical 7-inch single releases for her tracks “Rock Music,” “SS26,” and “Camera,” and as part of the Music, Fashion, Film physical box set. The singer acknowledged that she hadn’t planned to unveil the songs digitally.

Keep ReadingShow less
Watch Oliver Tree’s ‘Celebration of Life’ Memorial Service

Oliver Tree

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Coachella

Watch Oliver Tree’s ‘Celebration of Life’ Memorial Service

Oliver Tree was remembered by friends and family Saturday at a “Celebration of Life” in the late singer’s native Santa Cruz, California

The public memorial, held six weeks after Tree died in a helicopter crash in Rio de Janeiro, featured guests like Diplo, Logan Paul, Aaron Mercury, Ethan Klein, and Tree’s own parents, who addressed the crowd.

Keep ReadingShow less
D4vd’s Texts Show He Got Celeste Rivas Hernandez Pregnant at 13, Talked Her Through Abortion: LAPD

David Anthony Burke, aka D4VD, in March 2025 in Paris

Antoine Flament/Getty Images

D4vd’s Texts Show He Got Celeste Rivas Hernandez Pregnant at 13, Talked Her Through Abortion: LAPD

D4vd exchanged a series of text messages with his alleged murder victim Celeste Rivas Hernandez about an abortion she purportedly had in January 2024, when she was 13, and he was an adult, according to phone records presented by prosecutors on Friday.

The messages were recovered from a phone found in the singer’s Los Angeles home, along with what investigators described as a large collection of child sexual abuse material involving Rivas. The platinum-selling singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is accused of killing Rivas on April 23, 2025, after she threatened to disclose the alleged abuse. Prosecutors say he later dismembered her body with a chainsaw inside a blue inflatable pool in his three-car garage. Burke has denied the allegations.

Keep ReadingShow less
Remembering Sick of It All’s Lou Koller, New York Hardcore’s Best Ambassador

Sick Of It All lead singer Lou Koller

Scott Gries/ImageDirect

Remembering Sick of It All’s Lou Koller, New York Hardcore’s Best Ambassador

“We have our mics, but this is your mic.” When I saw Sick of It All play a gig in Denver in 2001, a couple of years before I moved to New York, it seemed like a revelation that a professional band would place a microphone on the Ogden Theatre’s stage for anyone to climb up and sing along with them before diving back into the pit. He also asked for everyone to look out for each other in the mosh pit. I was a metalhead, a few years into college, and still relatively fresh to New York hardcore. Metal bands didn’t do things like that. Little did I know that sense of community had been a staple of hardcore shows in New York for decades at that point.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sean Combs Placed in Solitary Confinement After Brawl With Fellow Inmate: Reports

Sean "Diddy" Combs

Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images

Sean Combs Placed in Solitary Confinement After Brawl With Fellow Inmate: Reports

Sean Combs was involved in a fight with another inmate at Fort Dix earlier this week, resulting in the Bad Boy founder being sent to solitary confinement, a source familiar with the incident confirmed to Rolling Stone.

A fellow inmate at the low-security federal prison in New Jersey allegedly taunted Combs, who reportedly lashed out at the man, TMZ first reported. The pair are said to have exchanged shoves and throws, before prison guards were able to separate them. Afterwards, Combs was reportedly put in solitary confinement. It is not clear if the other inmate was also reprimanded for his part in the scuffle.

Keep ReadingShow less