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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth took Kid Rock on a joyride in a U.S. Army Apache helicopter on Monday in order to help him get footage to promote his tour — days after the conservative musician begged fans to buy more tickets for the “Freedom 250”-themed tour, with hundreds of tickets still available for shows just a few days away.
In a post on social media, Hegseth said that he took Kid Rock, whose legal name is Robert James Ritchie, on a “ride” with Apache pilots. He attached several photos, including one showing the musician addressing a room full of Pentagon staff at a press podium.
“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 brave,” Hegseth said. He promised there would be “[m]ore to come” on the subject of Kid Rock.
The promotion for the artist comes after he begged for ticket sales in a video posted to social media on Friday, complaining about being “suppressed.”
“I wanted to promote my Freedom 250 tour, which kicks off next Friday,” he said. He gave a tour of his office to help get “clicks and views,” because, he said, “otherwise, especially somebody like me gets suppressed, probably for my politics or whatever,” ignoring that he is now perhaps most well known for his vocal support of the party in charge of the White House and Congress.
“I may be coming to each show in an Apache helicopter, which should send far left liberals into complete breakdown and tears if it happens,” he said of the tour, chuckling.
The Pentagon’s top spokesperson, Sean Parnell, said that the ride was done in part to allow Kid Rock to film promotional footage for his tour.
“As a part of that event, 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,” Parnell said in a statement, per The Hill.
“At each stop along his tour, Kid Rock has generously pledged 1,000 free tickets for members of the military and veterans,” Parnell continued. “The Department is grateful for Kid Rock’s long time support of our troops.”
Kid Rock’s tour is selling poorly. Ticketmaster’s website shows that the first date — this Friday in Dallas, Texas — still has hundreds of tickets available; tickets in every section were still on sale as of writing. The most expensive tickets, in the front row, are being sold for $5,000 each, before tax.
The Kid Rock-led “Rock the Country” tour that kicks off later this year, featuring conservative artists like Jason Aldean and Blake Shelton, also recently slashed prices, fueling speculation that the price cut was due to poor ticket sales.
According to open flight data, Kid Rock’s private jet flew from Nashville to Fort Belvoir, in Virginia early Monday morning. Then, an Army AH-64 Apache took off around 1 pm and flew in a few loops around the base for about 10 minutes before landing again. Four Apaches and two Blackhawk helicopters arrived at the base on Saturday from Fort Campbell, which is on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee; Apaches are not typically stationed at Fort Belvoir, noted Drop Site News, which was the first to break the news of Kid Rock’s flight.
The Washington Post, citing an Army official, reports that Apaches cost roughly $7,000 an hour to fly. The Trump administration has requested a record-shattering $1.5 trillion budget for the Pentagon for fiscal year 2027.
The latest incident comes weeks after an Apache helicopter did a fly-by to Kid Rock’s estate in Nashville. The Army was conducting an investigation into the incident, but Hegseth terminated that investigation and lifted the suspension of the pilots.
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