{"id":456549,"date":"2026-02-08T15:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T15:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/456549\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T15:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T15:07:10","slug":"controversial-rockstar-is-coming-to-n-j-not-everyone-is-pleased","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/456549\/","title":{"rendered":"Controversial rockstar is coming to N.J. Not everyone is pleased."},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/kidrock.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Kid Rock;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Kid Rock<\/a>, the country rock singer and songwriter, recently announced that his upcoming tour will make a stop in New Jersey this summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The rocker\u2019s \u201cFreedom 250 Tour\u201d will visit the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel on June 5.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Country singer Jon Pardi is slated to open the show. Tickets will go on sale starting Friday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster and Live Nation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The tour announcement has generated controversy online, with critics tagging the event as \u201cMAGA-leaning\u201d due to Kid Rock\u2019s outspoken conservative stances and political associations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Although some fans are looking forward to the show, others took to the comments of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PNCARTSCENTER\/posts\/pfbid02p2oEjTzWBNfucsEwiMZmDmFv7ptM9WdR5tLWbmsVAPXimw9q33fXkbNarHUScLxml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:PNC Bank Arts Center\u2019s Facebook page;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">PNC Bank Arts Center\u2019s Facebook page<\/a> to express their disdain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThe tour for dudes that walk around the 7-Eleven parking lot looking for half smoked cigarette butts and asking if you have a quarter,\u201d one person commented on the venue\u2019s post announcing the show.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThere has to be a better way to celebrate this country than Kid Rock and White House MMA,\u201d another commenter said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Several artists originally listed on Kid Rock\u2019s related \u201cRock The Country\u201d festival, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.complex.com\/music\/a\/bernadette-giacomazzo\/kid-rock-rock-the-country-tour-canceled\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:recently cancelled a stop in South Carolina;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">recently cancelled a stop in South Carolina<\/a>, have dropped out of the show following backlash, including artists Morgan Wade, Carter Faith, Ludacris and rock band Shinedown, who <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/shinedown\/status\/2019772265978585350?s=12&amp;t=rRqPBqqfKozTw-kySCH-uA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:said their goal is to;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">said their goal is to<\/a> \u201cunite, not divide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Kid Rock, who has a financial stake in the Rock the Country Festival series, is scheduled to play five of the seven festival weekends.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He will also headline Turning Point USA\u2019s \u201cAll-American Halftime Show\u201d on Sunday, the conservative group\u2019s alternative to the Super Bowl\u2019s official <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nj.com\/giants\/2026\/02\/ive-never-listened-to-bad-bunny-heres-why-im-still-excited-for-his-super-bowl-halftime-show-politi.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Bad Bunny halftime show;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Bad Bunny halftime show<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Freedom 250 Tour is billed as a celebration of America\u2019s 250th birthday in 2026, with the tour spanning 10 dates from May 1 through June 20. Other tour stops include outdoor venues in Dallas, Raleigh, Charlotte, St. Louis, Tampa and more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nj.com\/entertainment\/2026\/02\/controversial-rockstar-is-coming-to-nj-not-everyone-is-pleased.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:NJ.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">NJ.com<\/a>. Add <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nj.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:NJ.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">NJ.com<\/a> as a Preferred Source by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=nj.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:clicking here;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kid Rock, the country rock singer and songwriter, recently announced that his upcoming tour will make a stop&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,88,61007,213390,35221],"class_list":{"0":"post-456549","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-kid-rock","11":"tag-pnc-bank-arts-center","12":"tag-tour-announcement"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}