If you’ve got a chance, take it.
Kid Rock had some surprises in store during his performance at the Turning Point USA All-American Super Bowl Halftime Show, breaking out a version of a Cody Johnson hit that he first debuted last year.
During an appearance on Fox News ahead of the alternate Super Bowl halftime show, Kid Rock teased a surprise cover that he planned to perform during the broadcast, which he said would be released on streaming soon after:
“Musically I know that nothing beats a great song. That’s the most powerful thing. No performance, no pyro, no lighting will beat a great song, so I’m gonna flip a 180 and do what I think is one of the best-written songs in a long time, and then that night at midnight that song will be released, streaming and downloading, everywhere.”
And when he said it was one of the best-written songs in a long time, he wasn’t wrong.
For the halftime show, Kid Rock broke out his soulful version of Cody Johnson’s #1 hit “Til You Can’t,” adding a verse that he wrote after the death of Charlie Kirk:
“There’s a book that is sitting in your house somewhere
That could use some dusting off
There’s a man that died for all our sins, hanging on the cross
You can give your life to Jesus, and he’ll give you a second chance
‘Til you can’t”
Kid introduced the new lyrics by saying that he woke up one morning and felt called to add one more verse:
“I awoke one Sunday morning all alone with this song stuck in my head, and in that moment, something or someone spoke to me. They said there was still a verse that needed to be written for this song. And to get up and write it down.”
Kid Rock (whose real name is Robert Ritchie) first performed his version of the song last November during an appearance at the Hondo Rodeo Fest, when he stepped in for Johnson at the last minute after Cody was forced to cancel his appearance due to a busted ear drum.
Along with Kid Rock, the halftime show also featured Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett.
You can watch the full show, including Kid Rock’s Cody Johnson cover, here:
Turning Point USA first announced their alternate broadcast after the NFL announced that Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny would be headlining the Apple Music halftime show at Super Bowl LX, a controversial decision given his outspoken statements against President Donald Trump and his immigration policy.
Recently during the GRAMMY Awards, Bad Bunny once again made a political statement with his acceptance speech:
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say: ICE out. We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”
The alternate halftime show obviously received a lot of criticism from the left and the media (but I repeat myself). But Kid Rock, along with the other headliners, insisted that the Turning Point USA halftime show was simply an opportunity to play music for those who didn’t feel represented by the “official” halftime show:
“At the end of the day, like people like Taylor Sheridan and Tyler Perry have, they realize there’s a big portion of this country, like it or not, that’s underserved entertainment-wise. We’re just going to go play for our base, you know, people who love America, love football, love Jesus. And it’s pretty much that simple.
Of course, the media and the haters are going to try to detract from it. And I think I would like to get this point across once again when I say I think I speak for Turning Point and all the artists involved that none of us are approaching this with any hate in our hearts at all. It’s just a love for our base and love for music, our country and everything else.”
Before the show even started there were already over 1.5 million people watching on Turning Point USA’s YouTube stream alone, and viewership appeared to peak at over 6 million simultaneous streams just on YouTube, so it’s safe to say it was a success, regardless of your opinion on it.
