Other artists including Ludacris have also pulled out amid Kid Rock's close association with the MAGA movement
By Max Pilley 7th February 2026
Kid Rock at the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The South Carolina date of Kid Rock’s ‘Rock The Country’ festival has been cancelled after Shinedown decided not to play at the event.
The travelling country festival announced shows for a total of eight cities this summer, with Kid Rock headlining five of the shows and acting as the face of the entire series.
AdvertisementOne of the cities announced was Anderson, South Carolina, which was set to be jointly headlined on July 25 and 26 by Shinedown and Creed. However, on Friday (February 6), Shinedown announced on social media that they were dropping out of the shows.
Now, it has been confirmed that the entire South Carolina leg of ‘Rock The Country’ has been cancelled, with county administrator telling Fox Carolina that they were “disappointed” that it would not be returning to the state this year.
In their announcement, Shinedown indicated that the event’s association with Kid Rock, one of the most outspoken supporters of MAGA and Donald Trump in the music industry, had informed their decision to withdraw.
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“SHINEDOWN is everyone’s band. We feel that we have been given a platform to bring all people together through the power of music and song,” the Florida band wrote.
Recommended“We have one BOSS, and it is everyone in the audience. Our band’s purpose is to unite, not divide. With that in mind, we have made the decision that we will not be playing the Rock The Country Festival.”
“We know this decision will create differences of opinion. But we do not want to participate in something we believe will create further division. And to our fans, thank you for supporting and believing in us. We love and appreciate you always.”
Their decision comes just weeks after Ludacris also decided to dropped off the ‘Rock The Country’ bill, in a decision that ironically saw him labelled at the time as a “coward” by Shinedown drummer Barry Kerch.
AdvertisementKerch told The Vinyl Road podcast last month that his band had received significant pushback for their inclusion on the MAGA-associated bill, but he said that he “really, really” didn’t care. On Ludacris, he added: “I mean it’s not like he needs the money, jeez. If he’s not tough enough to stick it out, that’s just silly. That’s him being a coward, in my opinion.”
The remaining seven instalments of ‘Rock The Country’ are still scheduled to go ahead as planned.
Kid Rock has been a Trump supporter since 2016 and he was involved in his second inauguration event in January 2025, alongside Billy Ray Cyrus, Carrie Underwood, the Village People and others.
He also described Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl halftime show as “the epitome of DEI blowing up”, referring to the US’ diversity, equity and inclusion regulations. This time around, he will be headlining Turning Point USA’s ‘All-American Halftime Show’ that will run directly opposite Bad Bunny’s set at the NFL setpiece.
