Kid Rock cuts off performance, storms off after asking crowd to clap: ‘I’m gone’
Singer and rapper Kid Rock abruptly left the stage during a Nashville performance over the weekend after the audience failed to clap along to his song.
On Saturday night, Rock was a special guest at the 63rd birthday celebration for Bon Jovi founding member and keyboardist David Bryan at JBJ’s Nashville, a venue owned by Jon Bon Jovi.
Joining a band featuring Bryan on keyboard, Rock began performing a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Proud Mary but stopped midway due to a lack of audience participation.
“Hey, hey, stop!” Rock said as the band and accompanying singer paused. “If you ain’t going to clap, we ain’t going to sing. That’s how it’s going to work.”
Attempting to rally the crowd, Rock clapped his hands above his head to demonstrate the participation he wanted. Some audience members joined in when the performance resumed, but their response seemingly didn’t meet Rock’s expectations.
Frustrated, he cut the song off again, saying, “You know what, (expletive) y’all. You ain’t gonna clap, I’m gone,” before walking off stage.
Despite his exit, the band continued playing. The following day, Bryan shared a clip of Big Kenny’s special appearance on Instagram, thanking the Big & Rich singer for joining the celebration. “THANK YOU FOR THE BIRTHDAY WISHES! Rocking at @jbjsnash last night with @bigkennytv!” he captioned the post.
A representative for Bon Jovi declined to comment, and USA TODAY has reached out to Rock’s team for a statement.
Rock, 54, recently performed at an event for former President Donald Trump in January. He is set to go on tour in March alongside Chris Janson and Uncle Kracker before embarking on his Rock the Country tour with Nickelback in April.
