Kid Rock defends his roots amid Dearborn controversy
Kid Rock defends his roots amid Dearborn controversy
Adam Graham, The Detroit NewsThu, October 15, 2026 at 10:02 AM UTC
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Kid Rock addresses controversy over his Dearborn roots and his recent comments regarding religious ideology.
Kid Rock is no stranger to controversy, and his latest is over his hometown.
In a Fox News piece that ran Oct. 10, he told Lara Trump, "I was born in Dearborn, Michigan," then went on to say his father and grandfather were both from Dearborn.
Rock was indeed born in Dearborn's Oakwood Hospital, the current Corewell Health Dearborn Hospital, and was then raised in Romeo, roughly an hour north.
The internet and media outlets seized upon Rock's words, saying Rock was unfairly claiming Dearborn as his own. Rock shrugged it off.
"I was born in Dearborn. I was raised in Romeo," Rock told The Detroit News in an interview this week. "I know where I'm from."
But that larger point wasn't explored during the Fox interview as Rock transitioned to Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan's Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator in next month's midterm election, whom he called "a wolf in sheep's clothing," warning against "a civil war against religious ideology" should he be elected. El-Sayed's Muslim religion and Dearborn's large Muslim population provided the context for the comments.
Also over the weekend, Rock made news when he introduced President Trump at an Oct. 10 rally in Clarksville, Tenn., and in a fiery tone, he said the United States will never become "one nation under Muhammad!"
When he rewatched the video, the tenor of his delivery surprised even himself.
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"There was anger, exactly, that's the first thing I said," he says. "And I've been working on my anger management my whole life."
That applies to his relationships with his bandmates over the years, too. Rock says he often finds himself in the position of knowing in his head the sound he's looking for, and lashing out at those around him when it's not delivered.
"And sometimes it's directed at my own self, but that's something I'm trying to be conscious about," he says. "A lot of the things I'm trying to do now is, like, I can still say the same things, mean the same things, but maybe say them a little different."
He's not backing down or backing off from anything he says. He knows the commercial price he has paid to speak out, but he says it's more than made up for by what it has given him in his soul.
"When you don’t stand for anything, there is this empty, hollow feeling inside of you, of trying to please everyone, be liked by everyone, play the fence, be careful, don't say anything out of turn. I was never cut like that from day one," he says. "I've always said I'd rather be loved or hated than be just right in the middle of the fence."
External criticism comes and goes, same with praise, he says.
"You can't sit there and wallow in the good stuff, and you can't sit there and wallow in the bad stuff," he says. "If you're gonna take the good, you gotta listen to the bad."
agraham@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Kid Rock defends his roots amid Dearborn controversy
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
